Bitter Sweet
by I-Just-Love-Pringles97
Summary: Okay, so it's my first day at a new school, and already I've asked my Math teacher when her baby was due before finding out that she wasn't actually pregnant, then I'd got hit in the face during dodgeball, and now my nose is bleeding and there is a extremely hot guy standing in front of me and staring at me like I'm an alien. Awesome. Paul/OC Starts during New Moon
1. Of Bloody Noses & Dodgeball

**(A/N) Hey guys, so this is my first ever fic that I've ever done so I'm kinda nervous, and since it's my first one I'd really appreciate constructive criticism or just reviews in general ;) I really enjoyed writing it and I hope you guys enjoy it too! Please tell me if there are any spelling mistakes or anything like that! Thank you for reading! ;D**

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Chapter 1 – Of Bloody Noses & Dodgeball

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It was raining in La Push when we arrived.

It didn't really surprise me to be honest, though. I mean, I'd visited La Push a few times before (to see my good ol' Gran-Gran) and each time I'd come it'd been raining. At first I'd thought maybe it was just me (y'know, that I was like a rain goddess or something cool like that), but apparently it was almost always raining.

"If it's not bloody raining, it's pouring," Gran-Gran had told me, sitting in that old rocking chair of hers that literally _never _stopped creaking. I'd always hated that rocking chair. Mostly due to the fact that in horror movies there's almost _always _a rocking chair that somehow miraculously moves by itself. That and I can still clearly remember the time when Gran-Gran rocked that chair right onto my foot.

It still hurts _even _to think about the incident. Darn chair.

Anyhoo, the reason why my mom and I were moving to La Push is because she had decided to move in with her 'hunk' whom she'd been dating for about a year now. I use the word 'hunk' very loosely here, by the way. _Very _loosely. In fact, the usage of the word 'hunk' is so loose that-

You know what? Never mind.

As I was saying before I got distracted, we were moving in with my mom's boyfriend. I'd been against it at first but due to the fact I couldn't quite move out at the current time (I'm only 17 and jobless, and still in school, moving out is impossible for me right now. That and I'm lazy) I'd been dragged along all the way to this small reservation next to a town which had been named after cutlery. Pretty awesome, right?

Right now, however, I didn't really mind. I mean, the house was pretty cute, if a little worn. At least from the outside it was. I hadn't seen the inside of the house yet as mom and I were currently still standing outside by the heap of junk she calls a car (it had broken down twice on the way here).

The house was quite small. Smaller than our old house, that's for sure. But to be honest, I didn't mind. It actually looked quite cute, y'know, despite the fact it looked like it was nearly falling apart. For one, the red paint was starting to peel off the wooden walls, and the front door was chipped and muddy. The windows were dusty, and a few of them had even fallen victim to vicious attacks of bird poo. Weeds and wild-flowers crept up from under the lawn, poking out from between the long strands of grass, and a wall of trees guarded the small residence from the view of unwanted visitors, or just people in general. Yet, despite looking shabby and old and poorly maintained, it had a strange charm about it. A nice charm, though, strange nevertheless.

"Cora?" I turned to my mother as she said my name, her eyes still fixed on the house in front of us. I could tell by the look in her eye that she wasn't too keen on the unkempt appearance of it. She'd always been a bit of a neat freak, and this house looked far from neat. "Promise me you'll be nice to Steve, okay?"

_Steve. _That was her boyfriend's new name. I'd never actually met him before, but I had seen a picture. I remember in the image he'd had black, shiny hair that he fluffed up in some silly 'hip' hairstyle, as my mother had described whilst swooning over his picture. He was russet-skinned, and from what I could remember looked rather muscular, but not exactly tall. Well, he was still taller than my mother and me. My mom stood at about 5'4 whilst I stood at a stupid 5'3. I hated my height.

"What's that supposed to mean? I'm always nice," Mom just turned to me, giving me a pointed look which clearly implied that she totally disagreed with my last statement. "What!? Don't look at me like that, woman, I am nice! Ask anyone!" This time she smirked, though still was giving me that pointed look.

"Maybe I should ask that old ex of mine, hmm?" Her smirk grew wider if possible, and I couldn't believe she was going to stoop this low. She knew I had a valid reason for why I did what I did. "I'm sure he remembers that time where he had no clothes left at all because _someone _thought it would be hilarious to burn holes in every article of clothing he owned,"

"Oh my God, that was an accident, okay!? Besides, you know I suck at ironing!" I crossed my arms over my chest, avoiding looking in my mom's eyes.

"Oh really, Cora? Really?"

"Okay, fine, it wasn't an accident!" I stomped over to the trunk of the car, not being able to take my mom's mocking stare for much longer. It was her ex's fault anyways! He'd ate all the cheese in the fridge, and everyone who knows me well, knows that I love cheese. I mean, sure, the stuff smells awful, but the taste is just too amazing to even _try _to describe. "But still, it got me out of ironing ever again, didn't it? I haven't ironed in like...I don't even know!"

My mom just laughed sharply, joining me in hauling the super-heavy suitcases out the trunk. I couldn't help but wonder what on earth we'd put in them. It felt like there was a dead body in there or something. God, I hoped there wasn't. "Well, Cora, _that _is going to change very soon. You're turning eighteen next year, honey, you need to seriously start growing up,"

"But I am grown up!" I whined, frowning deeply. Deep down, I knew that I was immature. I still laughed whenever someone mentioned the word 'penis', for God's sake! See? I'm laughing now! Anyhoo, I was hoping that maybe moving house could be a new start for me. Maybe I could start my life over again as the new, mature and extremely cool me, right?

My mom disagreed with me, however. "You just keep telling yourself that, Cora, dear," She said, slamming the trunk shut in the process. Just then, the door of the house swung open, and out bounded...dare I say his name..._Steve. _

Y'know, he looked exactly like he did in the picture. Weird.

"Nadine! Baby, you're here!" Oh God, he did not just call my mother baby. In fact, he did not just say the _word _baby. I hated the word baby, unless of course, the person saying it was actually talking about a literal baby, and not a grown person. Ugh, it grated on me so much! However, what came out of my mother's mouth grated me even more than the nickname 'baby'.

"Oh my gosh! Stevie-Boo!"

Stevie-Boo? Really? Stevie-Boo? Out of all the nicknames she could have come up with for the guy, she'd picked Stevie-Boo? Why, God? _Why?_

"I missed you so much, Naddie!" "Oh my gosh, me too!" This was followed by a lot of squealing. In fact, right now, the two currently reminded me of two little school girls who'd just hit puberty. Why didn't they stop!?

"Ah, Steve, this here is my daughter, Coralie, but call her Cora or she'll probably hate you," Finally, they'd ceased that annoying squealing noise! Thank the Lord!

"Cora, nice to meet you. Uh, cool name," He stuck out his hand with a cheerful, if slightly nervous, smile on his face.

I smiled in a strained manner, "Uh, thanks. Cool...Face," Oh my God. Why did I say that!? What if my mom's new boyfriend thinks I'm hitting on him? Maybe he'll force me to camp outside until he fully regains my trust? Wait, how do even know if he trusted me in the first place? Thankfully, my mom knows me well.

"Don't worry, Steve, you'll get used to her," And with that, she picked up her suitcases and brushed past him, entering the house. In my opinion, it was pretty rude of her, I mean, Stevie-Boo hadn't even invited her inside. Sure, he'd invited her to move in, but they were two completely different things. And why was I calling him Stevie-Boo?

"Oh, here, I'll take your bags," Steve smiled cheerfully again, grasping my bags before trailing inside after my mother. I'll be honest, he seemed okay. I mean, I can see myself getting used to having him around, although if they started kissing, I would probably have to burn holes in his clothes, y'know, teach him a little lesson. Just the usual.

Sighing happily, I turned round, breathing in the fresh air. With my hands on my hips, I couldn't help but feel like those heroes out of those movies where they save the day and have one of those proud moments where they stand on the spot looking into the air with a smug smile on their face. Except I wasn't a hero...and I hadn't saved anyone...I'd just...er...moved house. Maybe it was just the fact that I was sort of looking forward to living on a reservation next to a town named after cutlery.

Meh.

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Dodgeball.

God, I hated it. And to be honest, it wasn't exactly the greatest way to end my first day at La Push High. Not that my first day had went well. I had actually managed to make zero friends (most people here had just completely ignored my existence) and I'd even managed to insult my Math teacher, Mrs Chambers, who hated me. After politely asking her when her baby was due, I'd actually found that instead of being pregnant, she was just a bit plumper in the stomach area. Yep. She hated me. But to be fair, I genuinely had thought she was pregnant. Unfortunately, when I'd told her that whilst trying to defend my actions, it hadn't exactly made her hate me less. In fact, if anything it made her hate me more, if that were possible.

Yep. Not exactly the greatest start to a new school, right?

Dodgeball, however, is a sport I greatly hate. I mean, I hate most sports anyways, but Dodgeball? God, it was so painful! The only thing I ever gained from playing was a ball to the stomach. Or bum. Or face. Either way, dodgeball always ended painfully for me.

And today was no different.

As everyone on my team ran forwards when Coach Adams blew the starting whistle (right in my ear, I might add) I decided to squeal loudly as almost instantly a good few balls (teehee!) came flying in my direction. I managed to somehow miraculously dodge them all. All but one.

_**WHAM!**_

Yep. That was the sound of the ball connecting with my poor and now probably squashed looking face. Meh. I didn't care too much; it wasn't as though I was pretty to begin with. However, I did start to care when I felt the warm, wet substance known as blood start pouring out of my nose and onto my lips.

Falling to my knees for dramatic effect, I started to screech loudly, my hands clutching my poor nose, "OWWWW! Oh my God! Ow! Ow! Ow! Ow! Fudging OWWW!" Oh my God! Were people actually laughing? Oh my God, they were! Uncool!

Somehow blocking out the chorus of laughter coming from my teammates...and the opposite team...and the observers, I looked up at the darned culprit who'd thrown the darned ball.

There, stood a few meters away, was the biggest guy I'd ever seen. He was very tall and muscular, and to be honest, looked as though he'd taken a whole lot of steroids. On his face he wore a sheepish grin. Why wasn't he bowing down and begging for forgiveness?

Instead of bowing down, he said, "Sorry," though to be honest he didn't look sorry at all. He was quite clearly holding back his laughter, unlike Coach Adams, who was _literally _on all fours and _howling _with laughter. In fact, I'm pretty sure he was crying from laughing so hard. Wow. One of his students could have been bleeding to death here and he didn't even give two hoots. Wow. Just wow.

Actually, I'll be honest, if it wasn't me who'd been hit in the face with a ball, I probably would have been laughing too, but it _was _me, so it's besides the point.

Finally accepting that no one was going to help me, I slowly got to my feet, still pinching my nose between my finger and thumb.

"I-I think yo-you should go t-to the nurses o-office, kid," Coach sputtered, before bursting into a fit of laughter all over again.

I growled under my breath as I glared at him, "You don't say," And with that, I marched out of the gym with my head held high, keeping what dignity I had left. Which, let me tell you, was _not _a lot. I pretty much had no dignity left at all. In fact, I wasn't sure if I ever would have dignity ever again. Ever.

It was until five minutes later when I was wandering down some random corridor did I realise, where the hell was the nurse's office? Did they even _have _a nurse's office? Wait, what am I on about? Of course they did.

I decided that instead of wandering aimlessly round the school, I would go to the reception and ask for directions _there. _ Surely they would help me instead of laughing at my misfortune, right?

Wrong.

About another five minutes later, I was stood at the receptionist's desk awkwardly, as she laughed heartily at my story. Seriously, though. I don't see how somehow getting hit in the face is that funny. I mean, sure, maybe it would be _slightly_ humorous if someone saw it with their own eyes, but this woman hadn't even seen it, and yet, she was laughing.

"Not the greatest start to a new school, eh?" She asked whilst giggling to herself and shaking her head. Upon seeing my un-amused look, she immediately cleared her throat, and quickly ceased her laughter, "Erm...never mind. Just be thankful it's not broken," It could've been broken for all I know. Plus it was still bleeding. What if it never stopped and I shrivelled up into a bloodless little lump? Ew.

"Anyways, the nurse's office is just down the corridor and to the left, okay? You can't miss it,"

You can't miss it? Well, clearly I _had _missed it as that was the way I'd actually came from. Oh well.

Turning round, I started to leave, only to find the doorway blocked by another steroid user, only this one was...only the hottest thing I'd ever seen! He was tall, almost towering over me, and extremely muscular. His eyes were a deep brown, and had a strange, almost wild kind of glint in them. He looked sort of gormless as he stood there, staring back at me with his mouth hanging open. I'm pretty sure mine was hanging open too. I may have even drooled a little. God I hope not. As I stared back at him I felt a strange tugging feeling in my heart, and suddenly, I felt _extremely _warm.

Well, I did.

But then I realised, I was standing in front of an _incredibly _hot guy, pinching my nose which was _still _bleeding heavily. God, I must have looked a mess! More than I usually did anyways. I had to go. I didn't want a hot guy seeing me like this. I didn't want him to see me at all. I literally wanted to be invisible right there and then. A little like Harry Potter!

Before I could stop myself, I spoke, "Um...Hi..." I paused. What was that!? Why did I greet him!? Now I had to say something or else he would think I was weird. Wait, he already probably thought I was weird...why did I greet him anyways? I didn't even know the guy! "God, I wish I did,"

Oh. My. God.

Did I really just say that out loud? No. Maybe I was hallucinating? Maybe I just imagined myself saying that. But judging by the guy's smirk, I hadn't. Actually, if it was possible, he looked even hotter when smirking.

Oh my God, shut up, Cora, shut up! Stop being a hormonal slut!

My eyes widened as the guy then cocked his head to the side, crossing his arms over his chest. Why did I even speak to him? Why? Clearly I am not destined to even _talk _to hot guys.

"Okay...this is awkward and I have to go get my nose fixed now...bye," And with that, I zoomed past him, my cheeks bright pink as I cringed at the fact that during that whole conversation (could that even be _classed _as a conversation?) I had been pinching my nose (which _still_ was bleeding) between my finger and thumb, and so due to that my voice had come out all nasally and alien-like. Awesome. God _clearly _hated me.

Finally reaching the nurses office, I knocked sharply on the door, only to be greeted by a very grumpy looking nurse.

Would this day ever end!?

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**(A/N) Soooooo...how was it? Reviews are greatly appreciated ;)**


	2. Finally Not Friendless

**(A/N) Thank you so much to everyone who reviewed the last chapter! I was so surprised, you guys made my day ;))) So, thank you to **_**Destineyrose18, LifeIsTooShortEatIceCream, Jewels47, kriscrable, d112hpfan, KGrace91 **_**and to the two guests who also reviewed! I really appreciate it, so thank you so much! ;)**

**Anyhoo, I would really appreciate it if I got more constructive criticism so I can try and improve my writing, so please leave me a review so I can try my hardest to improve ;D I hope you enjoy this, and please tell me if you spot any grammar/spelling mistakes ;P**

**Ooh, also, I proooomise there will be a _lot _more Paul in the next chapter ;)))**

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Chapter 2 – Finally Not Friendless

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It would be an understatement to say that I was _ecstatic _once the final bell rang. In fact, after having a grumpy nurse poke and prod my nose (who, after endlessly touching said nose, decided that it was not broken and instead put a ridiculously large band-aid over the now-no-longer-bleeding nose) I had almost sprinted out of the office. It was almost like a High School Musical moment. Y'know, the one where they throw a load of work and paper in the air then run out singing and dancing? Only I didn't run out throwing paper in the air. And I didn't run out singing. Or dancing. Just running. Well, actually I didn't even run. I more like power-walked out.

Anyways, it doesn't matter whether I was walking or running or lightly jogging or whatever. What matters is that I just wanted to get home and hide in my bed, never to resurface. This day had been so humiliating. I mean, it wasn't the most embarrassing day of my life (no, that one was reserved for that time where a bird pooped on my head, and I had to walk round for the whole day at school smelling of bird poo, which, let me tell you, does not smell too pleasant) but it was definitely up there in the top 15. I mean, not only had I gotten hit in the face with a ball, I'd also then embarrassed myself greatly in front of an extremely hot guy who probably now thought I was nuts. Oh well, guess he's not the only one.

What did it even matter, anyways? It's not like I was going to ever speak to him again. Nope, there was no way I was going to risk humiliating myself in front of him for a second time. No chance. In fact, I'd made a vow to stay far away from any hot guys who decided to come my way. Not that they would. Usually I'm invisible to them. That and even if they do attempt to talk to me they end up running off from fear of my awkwardness.

However, my plan to stay far away from all hot guys was foiled on the walk back home, when the guy who'd hit me in the face with the dodgeball (darn him) caught up with me halfway, with the hot guy walking right by his side.

Great. Just great.

Dodgeball guy was the first to speak, "Hey, Cora, right?" Oh my God. How did he know my name? Had they been spying on me? Stalking me? Maybe they were going to kill me? No, of course they wouldn't! Why would they do that!? I mean, sure I can be annoying, weird and sometimes just a little bit thoughtless, but they didn't know that. Unless they did? Maybe they _had _been spying on me, then? Noticing that the two were staring at me waiting for a response, I nodded and continued walking. "Well, I'm Jared. I just wanted to apologize for hitting you with the ball. I felt pretty bad. That and Paul here has been on my back for the past hour abou-" Dodgeball guy (or Jared) was immediately silenced by hot guy (Or Paul as I should really call him instead of being a hormonal slut) who delivered a sharp blow to poor Jared's head. It looked painful. However, Jared just laughed.

Ignoring Jared's comment about Paul, I instead focused on the apology. "Trust me, you didn't feel as bad as I did," I rubbed my nose, before suddenly becoming very aware of the ridiculous band-aid which covered most of my face. Ah well, maybe it was an improvement? Still, blood rushed to my cheeks as I turned my head in a failed attempt to hide my blood-stained nose (and lips) and band-aid away from their eyes. Only they'd probably already seen it. I mean, the band-aid was pretty hard to miss, judging at the fact it was almost the same size as my whole face.

"Ah," Jared paused awkwardly, before shoving his hands into his pockets, "Well...sorry,"

I merely smiled, "Apology accepted," Not. It was going to take a bit longer to get over the whole incident. And yes. I know that I'm extremely overdramatic at times.

Anyhoo, there was suddenly a very awkward silence hanging in the air. And I'm not great with awkward silences. Usually, I try to break those silences with an incredibly funny joke which for some reason no one ever finds funny, but since I was in the company of a very hot guy, I refrained from doing so. Instead, it was Paul who broke the silence, "Nice band-aid," He said.

Oh, no he didn't. The sarcastic, cocky, little (maybe big would be a more appropriate word) bugger. As if I didn't feel ridiculous enough with the darned band-aid on my nose. I mean, I would have ripped it off there and then, but I didn't want to risk it. Seriously, what if as soon as I removed it blood like started pouring everywhere? It happens in the movies, right? What if it happens in real life too? Plus I would probably have a large, red mark in the shape of the band-aid engraved onto my skin for a few hours, and then it would look as though I'd gotten a rather bad sunburn. I think I'd rather stick with the huge band-aid, to be honest.

Thankfully, Jared quickly jumped to my defence, "Shut it, Paul," Not the greatest defensive put down, I know, but it'd do.

I glared over at Paul, "Yeah, shut it, Paul," I have to admit, telling Paul to shut it made me feel rather satisfied, and I don't know why. Maybe because when I said it, his smirk faltered ever so slightly. However, it soon returned a millisecond later when he his name rolled off my tongue.

Weird.

Anyhoo, I must say I was rather relieved when the path twisting through the trees and leading up to my new house came into view, as another awkward silence had decided to smother us, and to be honest, I just wanted me and my band-aid to get away from Paul as soon as possible. I could feel his mocking gaze, and I knew he was probably dying to laugh at me. The little shit. Sorry. _Big _shit.

As we reached the path, I turned to the two boys and shuffled my feet awkwardly. "Erm...yeah...I have to...um...I mean...uh...bye?" I smiled and gave them a wave (actually it looked more like a random spasm of the hand) before hurrying down the path, almost falling over in my eagerness to get away.

However, as Jared said his goodbyes, I, for some reason, turned back around. Now, don't ask me why I did, I just did. And to be honest, I was glad I had done so. Sort of.

There, stood on the exact same spot and staring at me intensely, was Paul. And there was no trace of cockiness on his face. Instead, he had a rather...well, not _timid,_ but a bit more of a softer look on his face (though he still looked rather wild). "Bye, Cora," The smirk reappeared on his face as my name rolled off his tongue, before he sauntered off after Jared. Was he mocking my name? Or was he just a weird person? It was safe to say, I felt _slightly_ creeped out. Why did he stare at me like that? Was the band-aid that ridiculous that he felt the need to stare at me intensely? Or perhaps it was something else?

...Nah. It was probably the band-aid. I mean, it was pretty distracting.

Sighing heavily, I stared after Paul, feeling rather confused. However, I soon ceased the staring when a loud howl suddenly reached my ears. It had sounded close by, and to be honest, I did not want to meet whatever had made that noise. What if it ate me? I couldn't be eaten! Sure, I had no social life and no one would really miss me other than my mother, Gran-Gran and maybe even Stevie-Boo (though I doubted it, I'd only met him yesterday) but I didn't want to die _yet. _And if I ever did die, I would want it to be whilst doing something I enjoyed, like eating food (more specifically cheese) or sleeping.

With that in mind, I quickly turned around and hurried down the path, thinking about the mysterious Paul, and of course, cheese. That stuff was good.

* * *

It wasn't until later that night when I finally made friends with someone.

Yes, someone actually _was _willing to be friends with me. Despite _still _having the ridiculous band-aid on my nose (I was too scared to rip it off).

Since my dear mother and Stevie-Boo had decided to have a making out session (despite the fact that at the time I'd actually be trying to talk to them, the rude buggers), I had decided to give them some space (and save my poor eyes from the hideous sight of them playing tonsil tennis) by heading down to the beach for a small walk. And by small I meant a long walk. Who knows when their little make out session would end?

Anyhoo, once at the beach, I noted it was rather empty, other than a lone girl who sat on some logs (God, that must have been uncomfortable! She'd probably be getting a whole load of splinters up her b- ...never mind) that had been set around a burned out camp-fire.

I had planned to ignore the girl completely. I mean, I wasn't really up for talking to random strangers, nor was I skilled enough to _carry _a normal conversation with random strangers. However, the girl, upon noticing me, immediately called me over, and so I did the polite thing, and awkwardly headed over, plopping myself down on the log opposite her. And yes, it was uncomfortable, and I had probably gained a good few splinters too.

The girl had short black hair that reached her chin, and a thick, full fringe covered her forehead and eyebrows from view. Her eyes were wide and childlike, her face chubby and round, and her russet-skin was clear and healthy. I thought she looked quite young (in a cute kind of way I guess) and even though she was sitting down, I could tell she was quite tall, and her frame was rather athletic, what with her broad shoulders and muscular arms.

"Hiya!" The girl instantly greeted as I made myself as comfortable as possible on the log (and let me tell you, that wasn't too comfortable). She seemed happy that I'd joined her, "I'm Aaliyah, but you can call me Allie,"

"Hi, I'm Cora,"

Upon hearing my name, Allie's eyes widened, and a look of recognition appeared on her face, "Ooh, you're the girl who got hit in the face with a dodgeball, right?" Oh my God. Did news really travel that fast? I mean, why would anyone even _bother_ spreading round that I'd got hit in the face anyways? It wasn't _that _interesting. I was about to ask her where she'd heard that when she spoke again, "I was there. Pretty funny stuff, if you ask me," She grinned. Oh. So people _weren't _spreading it round. Okay. Well, I _hoped _they weren't spreading it around. I didn't want to be forever known as the girl who got hit in the face by a dodgeball on her first day.

"Erm...yeah...it was," I lied. Frankly, I didn't find it funny. Especially since I still was wearing the band-aid, but I'm sure one day I would find it funny. Y'know, like in a few years. Maybe ten. Maybe even _more_ if I was to be forever known as the girl who got hit in the face.

"Aw, it looked quite painful. I think it was that Jared who did it...did he even apologize?" Allie asked, spitting out Jared's name as though he were some disgusting disease. I could tell that Allie disliked him. I wonder why? He seemed decent enough, despite the incident.

"Yeah, he apologized on the way home,"

"On the way home? He walked with _you?_" I've got to admit, I was pretty offended at how surprised she sounded. It was as though she thought I wasn't good enough to talk to Jared, or that I wasn't worthy of being in his presence or something. Ah, well, maybe I'm overreacting. I mean, to be fair, I wasn't able to talk to anyone without creeping them out a little. Maybe I wasn't good enough to talk to the likes of Paul and Jared.

Meh. Their loss.

After realising that I'd not responded to her question and that she'd been waiting for a few seconds now, I nodded, "Yeah, he and Paul did," Allie's eyes narrowed.

"You want to stay well away from those two," She warned, nodding her head in a wise manner. In fact, the only way she could look any wiser right now was if she grew a beard like Dumbledore's. Beards were always wise. But to be honest, I wasn't sure if Allie would suit a beard, and I was pretty sure she couldn't grow one. Or maybe she could? What did I know? "They're bad news, those two, and so are the others. What are you doing here by yourself, anyways?" She asked suddenly, staring at me curiously. I looked back at her silently for a few seconds. Who did she mean when she said 'the others'? It made me slightly suspicious...what if Paul and Jared were like drug dealers or something, and that 'the others' were drug dealers too? To be honest, it would explain why they were scarily muscular almost to the point where they looked like they were using steroids on a daily basis.

...Nah, they probably weren't.

Realising that yet again I'd forgotten to answer Allie's question (she must have thought that I was either _very _slow or just completely mental) I shrugged, "Y'know, just out and about and stuff..." I stated, not really wanting to go into great detail on how I was outside trying to avoid the kissing fest that was going on back home. "You?"

"Meh, just waiting for a friend," Allie declared, glancing round, "Y'know, you should hang with us for a while. I saw you walking round by yourself at school today, you could do with some friends, yeah?" Oh my God. Was she actually willing to be friends? With _me? _The socially awkward, stupid and weird girl who will be forever known at La Push High for getting hit in the face on her first day? Really?

YESSSSSSSSSS!

Without wanting to seem too eager (coolness is the key. Unfortunately, I am not cool) I sort of nodded awkwardly, trying to hide my bright smile, but failing. "Yeah, that'd be nice,"

"Great!" Allie smiled, before her eyes suddenly slid past me, and she nodded, "Looks like Gemma's here now," She said, and quickly I turned around, and immediately a surge of jealousy shot through me.

This girl, Gemma, was incredibly pretty. She had long, wavy black hair that reached her waist, and her eyes were big and dark and_ very _intense. She was rather short and skinny, very delicate looking, and she moved with grace and elegance, something I could never do. She smiled at Allie and me, showing off her perfect white teeth. She made me feel so insecure as she made her way over, looking all beautiful and flawless.

It's not as if I'm hideously ugly, it's just I'm rather plain. My hair is long and wavy, and often tucked behind my ears (whenever I try style it, it just goes limp), and my eyes were not at all intense looking or beautiful like Gemma's. Instead, they were rather average (though I did like the colour of them, green with brown flecks) and I didn't have nice teeth like Gemma did. In fact, my teeth were currently occupied by pale blue braces (which is why I always avoided showing my teeth when smiling).

"Hey, Allie, who's this?" Gemma asked. God, even her voice sounded pretty. I couldn't have been more jealous if I tried. Not that I would ever purposely _try_ to feel jealous. It was a horrible feeling and I hated it.

I jumped slightly as Gemma sat down next to me, her expression now blank as she stared at me with her intense gaze.

"This is Cora,"

"Oh, the girl who got hit in the fa-"

Oh my God. "Yes, yes!" I interrupted. Quite loudly I might add. Louder than I intended anyways, "I got hit in the face," I was definitely never going to live this down. Ever.

Allie seemed to sense my distaste on people mentioning the incident and so decided to save the day (not literally) by changing the topic, "Hey, Gemma, Paul and Jared walked Cora home, y'know," Gemma's eyes widened at this piece of information, and I couldn't help but wonder, how was Paul and Jared walking me home such a big deal? And they didn't even really walk me home, I mean, they just walked _with _me. It's not as if they had purposely walked me there, right?

"You want to stay away from those two, they're bad news. Especially that Paul," Gemma nodded in the same wise manner that Allie had nodded in before. Maybe Gemma should have had a beard too? Though, she'd probably still look gorgeous even if she did have one. Darn her. "You want to stay away from the whole gang, if you ask me,"

"Gang?" God, I seriously hoped mom and I hadn't moved into the middle of like, a drug dealers den or some sort of creepy cult or something like that. But I'm sure that Gran-Gran would have warned us if there was some sort of cult, right?

"Yeah, the La Push gang," Allie nodded, leaning closer and started to speak in a hushed voice, as though what she was telling me was top-secret, "Y'know, Sam, Jared, Paul and Embry? And maybe Jacob too, I saw him hanging round with him recently," Maybe they'd forgotten that I'd moved here only a day ago and so had no idea who they were talking about?

"Good," Gemma snorted, "Maybe that means that Bella Swan will stop coming here. Gosh, I hate her so much," Okay, who the hell were these guys talking about? It would be an understatement to say I felt confused.

"Yeah, me too," Allie nodded, before returning back to the topic of the La Push gang, "Anyways, recently they've all started hanging round together and like they act all secret and important. It's like they think they own the place or something. Seriously, you can't do anything here without them finding out. I mean, they could be listening to us right now!" I felt a chill run down my spine. I didn't like the sound of these guys.

"And they're hiding something," Gemma butted in suddenly, "You can always see them creeping around. It's weird. And they all walk round shirtless for some reason. Half the time, I wonder if they even _own _any shirts," Ooh, shirtless boys, eh? Now that sounds nice...wait, no it doesn't. Hot, shirtless guys means an awkward me, and an awkward me means an embarrassing me. If there were _any _shirtless boys wandering round La Push, then I was going to avoid them for sure. Y'know, maybe I'd admire their shirtless glory from afar, but I would never speak to them, unless I ever decided I wanted to be humiliated. Which I wouldn't.

"Look, there they are now!" Allie exclaimed suddenly, pointing up to the cliff that sat at the other end of the beach. Sure enough, there, stood on top of the cliff (in all their shirtless glory I might add) stood the 'La Push gang'. God, I felt so silly saying that. It wasn't like they were the mafia or something like that. But staring up at them, I couldn't help but feel slightly intimidated. They did look rather shady. "They're bad news, Cora, I'd stay away. They're dangerous,"

"How?" I asked curiously, tearing my eyes away from them. Allie and Gemma seemed to avoid my gaze.

"Just trust us, they are," Gemma said, her eyes flashing darkly. Something was up, but I could tell these two were not about to tell me. Something eerie was going on, but to be honest, I doubted I would ever find out. And, honestly, I didn't really mind, as long as it didn't affect me, I was fine. I just wanted to stay out of it, and yet, as I stared up at the boys on the cliff as one by one they jumped off the edge, hurtling down to the cold water below, I had a funny feeling that I wasn't going to be able to stay out of it. Maybe I was being silly, but as I stared up at them, I could feel a strange tugging in my heart, as though it were trying to drag me towards them.

And then, one of them suddenly turned round, and I couldn't be sure if they were looking at me or not (they were too far away to be certain) but it sure looked like they were looking in my...well, _our, _direction. And I was scared. But why?

I had no idea.


	3. An Annoying Hot Guy

**(A/N) I'm back with another chapter! ;P I actually didn't think I'd finish it so quickly but I had to stay off school today (I'm sick D:) so I had some time to spare ;D Anyhoo, thank you to _scigeekgirl, ElectricSocks, laurenloveswriting, Jewels47, booklover1598, kriscrable, UnicornsLoveBananas97, LifeIsTooShortEatIceCream, Gringle Kirby _for reviewing! And also thank you to the two guests who also reviewed! I really appreciate it, thank you guys so much! And also, thank you to everyone who has followed and faved! You guys seriously make my day! ;P  
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**I hope you like this chapter! If there are any grammar/spelling mistakes then please tell me so I can correct them! **

**Enjoooooy ;)))**

* * *

Chapter 3 – Annoying Hot Guy

* * *

The next morning I was in a _very _good mood.

Why?

Because I'd finally made some friend's yesterday evening. That and it wasn't raining today, which was a surprise. I mean, it wasn't exactly sunny. In fact, it was actually rather cold and windy, but at least it wasn't raining.

And on top of that, I'd finally gotten the courage to rip the band-aid off my face. Well, actually, _I_ hadn't, but my mother had, and as a result I'd accidently kicked her in the face. It was her own fault though. I mean, what kind of person rips a band-aid off someone's face when they are fast asleep? Seriously.

Anyhoo, I was in such a good mood that on the way to school I was actually _humming_. Yes. Me. _Humming. _I mean, to be honest, I can't really hum in tune, so it didn't actually sound like humming, it was just some annoying buzzing sound.

Meh. At least I was happy though.

The walk to school was rather boring. I mean, I would have preferred if I'd had someone to walk with. It was rather lonely just wandering along by myself, and the only company I had (though it probably couldn't be classed as company) was the cars that would pass by every five minutes. Yep. I was forever alone.

However, once I was about halfway there, I realised that I actually _wasn't_ alone. The sound of rustling leaves came from inside the bushes to my right, and immediately, I froze. Was there something in the bushes? What if there was some axe-wielding homeless guy in there? Hiding in the bushes, just waiting to pounce...

Or it could be a cute, innocent little bunny?

I smiled to myself and rolled my eyes at my own silliness. Of course it wasn't going to be some axe murderer. However, as a twig snapped somewhere within in the trees, I jumped. What if it were a bear or something big like that? I didn't want to die yet! And certainly not at the hands of a wild animal. God, that would be painful.

With that in mind, I quickly spun around, my pace much quicker now as I continued on my way. However, I couldn't quite shake off the feeling that someone (or something) was watching me. It sent a shiver down my spine, resulting in me looking as though I'd just been possessed or something. This shizz was starting to get creepy. In fact, as I walked even quicker, I was sure I could hear footsteps behind m-

"**GAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA AAAAAAAAAAAH!"**

Yes. I am ashamed to admit that that piercing scream came from me, but, let's be honest here, _you _would be screaming too if you suddenly felt a large, rough hand grasp your shoulder, before spinning you around, am I right? Am I right? Eh?

Yeah, of course I'm right.

Anyhoo, upon being rudely turned round (whilst still screaming) my eyes fell upon a guy. Well, Paul to be more specific, and for some reason, he was shirtless, though he clutched a t-shirt in his other hand. Why was he shirtless? Was he trying to kill me here or something? My eyes seriously couldn't take any more hotness. Nor could my ovaries. And my throat couldn't take anymore screaming, either. Why was I _still _screaming anyways? It was only Paul, the extremely hot guy who may or may not be a drug dealer.

Paul seemed to wonder why I was still screaming too, and quickly he took his hand off my shoulder, and instead placed it over my mouth.

...Well, he didn't just place it, actually. He more like slammed it over my face, and I'm pretty sure that he'd almost knocked some of my teeth out in the process.

"Stop screaming, woman!" Paul exclaimed, glancing round.

Woman? _Woman? _The nerve! I glared at him angrily, ripping his hand off my mouth, and immediately checking me teeth to make sure they were all there. Thankfully, they were. However, they still stung painfully. "Owww!" I whined, wincing as I pressed my two front teeth, making sure they weren't loose or wobbly after being thumped rather forcefully. "What was that? You almost _broke_ my face!"

Instead of apologizing and getting down on his hands and knees, begging for forgiveness, Paul merely shrugged. I mean, it's not as though I expected him to be concerned or anything, but a little bit of sympathy would have been nice.

"Come on, I barely even touched you!" Paul's said, his eyes narrowing slightly. What? Was he mad at me? _Him? _Mad at _me? _He was the one who had almost made me pee myself out of fright _and _had also almost knocked my teeth out!

"Yes you did!" I frowned at him as finally his expression changed. I couldn't really tell if he was concerned or constipated. Either way, I didn't really care. "What are you even doing here, anyways?"

Paul didn't answer for a few seconds, instead, he continued to look at me with that half-possibly-concerned and half constipated expression on his face, but then, it vanished, and he merely shrugged, a smirk suddenly appearing, "What? Am I not allowed to walk around in public or something?"

...I should have really seen that coming to be honest.

"Oh shut up," I said, beginning my walk again, with Paul sauntering along beside me. Out the corner of my eye, I noticed him starting to pull his T-shirt on. "NO!" I blurted out before I could stop myself. Oh God, why? Yes, I admit, I didn't want him to put his shirt back on but seriously, why was I such an embarrassment? I racked my brain for an excuse as Paul froze in the process of pulling his T-shirt down over his abs. He was smirking. Yep. Smirking. He knew what I'd meant when I'd said no. God, he probably thought I was such a pervert.

"No?" He asked, almost teasingly. God, I hated him right now.

I cleared my throat, "Erm...never mind," My voice came out very high-pitched, and I winced, cursing my awkwardness. My cheeks felt as though they were on fire. It would be an understatement to say I was embarrassed.

Thankfully he pulled his top on properly (though I was sad to say goodbye to the abs) which meant that hopefully I wouldn't blurt out anymore stuff that would embarrass me. However, first I needed to change the subject to try easing the awkwardness. And the only thing I could think of was a joke. Yep. One of my incredibly-funny-but-no-one-else-seems-to-think-so jokes.

"What do you call a million nuns in a shop?" Now this joke was _particularly _hilarious in my opinion. However, Paul narrowed his eyes in confusion, and I couldn't help but regret my decision to tell him the joke. I mean, if he didn't laugh, then I would only feel even more embarrassed.

As Paul shrugged, I took a deep breath. This was it. He _had _to laugh, otherwise I would just have to run away and never show my face again. Time to deliver the punch-line, "Virgin Megastore!"

Yep. And there it was. The awkward silence. I should have known changing the subject by telling a joke was a bad idea.

However, as I chuckled awkwardly in another failed attempt to ease the awkwardness, Paul suddenly snorted and shook his head with an amused look on his face! Yes! Finally! Someone actually thought I was funny!

"That was the worst joke I've ever heard,"

Or maybe not.

My shoulders fell as I sighed in defeat. Would anyone ever find my jokes funny? Probably not. "Whatever," I muttered shoving my hands in the pockets of my pale green hoodie, "I don't want to be funny, anyways,"

Yep. That was a lie.

Paul snorted again (he was starting to strongly remind me of a pig now, what with all the snorting) before speaking, "Well, good, because you aren't."

Wow. How nice of him to point that out, right? I huffed angrily and turned my head away from him. I was glad that the school was just up ahead now, I would only have to walk with Paul for another few minutes, and then I could leave him. However, Paul seemed to notice that I was slightly annoyed at him. "Oh, come on, I was only joking, you're funny," He said, and I turned back to him, a faint smile on my face, "Y'know, in a weird kind of way,"

It's safe to say that any trace of a smile on my face had now vanished, and instead, a frown was now present.

Thankfully, we'd finally reached the school, and it was now time for us to make our grand entrance. And by grand I meant not grand at all. Seriously. Even if I tried to make a grand entrance, I'd probably ruin it by falling on my face.

Anyhoo, as I stepped through the gates, a sudden howl rang through the air. Was this place infested by wolves or something? That's twice in two days I'd heard them. I turned to Paul, but he just stood on the spot. He looked as though he were debating on something, as he glanced into the trees and then back to me. What the hell was he doing? Maybe he thought he was some kind of animal wrestler thing and was planning on fighting whatever had made that howl?

...Nah. Of course not.

I was about to ask him what he was doing when he suddenly turned towards the forest, and glancing back at me one last time, he sprinted into the trees, ripping his shirt back off.

Okay, he was teasing me now, wasn't he? Just because I'd accidentally blurted out no when he was trying to put his shirt on did _not _mean he could rip it off all the time. And who did he think he was, running off into the forest like that? Did he think he was Tarzan or something?

God, and he'd had the _nerve _to call _me_ weird!

Wait a second. Had I actually walked to school with Paul? Despite Allie and Gemma's warning about staying away from him and the rest of the La Push gang? God, I really need to call them something else other than that...maybe steroid-users would be more appropriate? Or Hunks R Us? Ooh, Hunks R Us, I liked the sound of that! Hunks R Us it is!

Anyhoo, as I was saying, I had completely ignored Allie and Gemma's warnings, and I was starting to worry a little. I mean, what if they were right and Paul was just talking to me to gain information from me for some sort of master plot? I didn't want to die! Especially not at the hands of Hunks R Us! I had to stay away from them! And I was going to do everything I could to make sure that happened.

* * *

It wasn't until lunch time did I see Allie and Gemma for the first time since making friends with them. And they welcomed me to their table in the school cafeteria with open arms. Well, not really. They just told me to sit down and to eat my damn food. In a nice way, of course.

"Why were you with Paul this morning?"

I'd barely even begun eating when Gemma asked me this. Her eyes were narrowed slightly as she studied me hard, and she looked very suspicious. I, for one, probably looked extremely confused. How did they know? Oh my God. Well, duh! I was stood right in front of the school gates with him, someone was bound to notice us. "I don't know. I didn't know he was going to walk with me, he just came out of nowhere,"

"Cora, we told you to stay away from him for a reason," Allie said. God, she sounded like my mom. "You're our friend now. We don't want you to get hurt,"

"Yeah," Gemma nodded quickly, "Nothing good can come out of hanging with Paul," I frowned at this. Sure, Paul seemed to be really annoying, but he was okay, I suppose. What was so bad about Paul and Hunks R Us? I wanted to know.

"Just stay well away from them and you'll be fine, Cora," Allie smiled, before turning to Gemma, quickly changing the subject, "So, how are you and Logan?" Upon noticing my confused expression, Allie quickly added, "Logan is Gemma's boyfriend,"

I nodded, making an 'ah' noise. It must be nice having a boyfriend. I'd never actually had one (for one I'm too awkward, and boys always just tend to avoid me) but I had had my first kiss before. In a game of truth or dare, in fact. A boy (I can't even remember his name now, all I can remember is that he looked quite disgusted when he'd found out his dare) had been dared to kiss me, and, well, we kissed. It wasn't very nice from what I can recall. It was very slobbery. And wet. And I remember he'd used a lot of saliva. Not nice at all. I remember washing my mouth out with lots of mouthwash after (it had almost choked me. The mouthwash that is, not the kiss) which to be honest was almost as bad as the kiss.

Anyways, as Gemma and Allie chatted about Gemma and Logan's date, I sort of zoned out (and prayed they wouldn't call on me to join in the conversation) and let my eyes drift towards the Hunks R Us table. They all had mountains of food piled up in front of them, and they were eating rather messily, I noticed. It wasn't too pleasant to see. However, I noticed how people on nearby tables would glance over at them occasionally. Some looked wary, whilst others (mainly girls) looked over in admiration (before turning back and giggling loudly). Despite the glances, though, no one seemed to be bothering them. In fact, the Hunks R Us boys looked quite a bit like outsiders. They didn't seem to fit in. For one, they all looked so big and burly, and they were easy to spot.

I would have probably continued staring at them for the whole of lunch if one of them hadn't of looked up and spotted me gawking at them (with my mouth hanging open, I might add). I quickly turned away, keeping my back firmly turned to them.

I don't know why, but they seemed strange. Very strange.

* * *

I tried so hard to listen to Allie and Gemma's warnings. Honestly, I did. But when I entered my first ever English lesson, I noticed Paul right away, sitting at the back with a smirk on his face, and he was looking right at me with a cocky glint in his eyes. God. He was everywhere!

And guess what? It turned out I had to sit at the desk right in front of him. Just my luck. When I want to avoid someone, they turn up everywhere. At that point, though, I didn't care too much. I mean, I could easily ignore him, right? I could just forget his existence and focus on my English work.

However, it wasn't until halfway through the lesson, did I realise ignoring him was going to be immensely difficult. Y'know when someone annoys you so much you just want to hit them over and over and over and over and over again? Well, that's what I wanted to do to Paul. Throughout the whole lesson he kept kicking my chair. And it wasn't just light taps. It was great big walloping kicks that made the entire chair jump about a foot in the air, with me still on it. It would be an understatement to say I wanted to punch him. I wanted to throw my shoe right in his face. I wanted to boot him in the crown jewels. But I didn't. Instead, I tried to ignore him, like how I had originally planned, but one does not simply walk into M- I mean, ignore an annoying bugger.

After a particularly painful blow to my chair (which hurt my bottom very much) I turned round, with what I hoped was an intimidating glare on my face (knowing my luck, though, I probably just looked stoned or something). Paul just smirked, which isn't surprising really. I'd known him for about two days and every time I saw him he was smirking.

"What?" He asked, raising his eyebrows as if almost _daring _me to say something. I did.

"Stop kicking my chair! It's annoying and my bum is going to be black and blue tomorrow if you don't stop!" Okay, I wasn't really planning on telling him that he was probably bruising my bottom right now, but it didn't matter. I just wanted him to stop kicking the darn chair! Ooh, maybe I should bring my Gran-Gran's rocking chair into school? Then maybe I could try jamming his foot under it if he continued kicking my chair? That would be awesome!

Paul merely smirked, and kicked my chair once more as though to prove a point. If he didn't stop soon, I was seriously considering grabbing my chair and slamming it on his head, and I was about to tell him this too, but then, I froze. That strange feeling was back again. The tugging feeling in my heart, as though I were being dragged towards him, and guessing by the look on his face, he felt it too. What was happening? Ever since I'd first saw him (after the dodgeball incident) I'd been getting this strange feeling whenever I was near him. Was I dying? Was that it? Or was it something else?

Upon hearing everyone around me start packing up, I slowly turned around, glancing at Paul one last time. His face was much softer, in contrast to his usual wild, cocky and slightly angry look. I felt confused (more so than usual) and as the bell rang, I quickly grabbed my things. Something was up and it was freaking me out. Maybe Hunks R Us _were _drug dealers, and maybe they'd slipped me some sort of pill that made me feel like this? Who knows?

I was fully aware of Paul calling my name as I hurried out of the classroom, but I didn't turn back, despite my heart telling me to. What was wrong with me? What was this tugging feeling? Was I high? Drunk? No, I couldn't be. I don't drink, and I certainly don't do drugs. Maybe someone had slipped me something at lunch?

Wait. No. Of course not! What kind of person would drug someone at school, anyways?

Glancing back over my shoulder I spotted Paul standing in the corridor by the classroom door, watching me closely. He wasn't smirking. And his facial expression wasn't soft this time either. He looked...hurt? I quickly turned my gaze ahead of me again. I just needed to go home. I needed to sort myself out. Maybe I would make an appointment at the doctors to make sure I wasn't ill or something? After all, the tugging feeling wasn't normal, right?

Was it?


	4. Wolf

**(A/N) I'm back with** **another update! Sorry this one took a little bit longer than usual, I've had a few exams and I feel like they're killing me! Gah! Anyhoo, updates_ might_ be just a bit slower (just a tinsy bit) but I'll try my best to get the chapters done as quickly as possible ;) I'm still off sick so I'll try get a head start with chapter 5 ;D**

**Thank you to _Jewels47, booklover1598, kriscrable, Destineyrose18, music lover bwg, UnicornsLoveBananas97, OMG iTs JeSsY, Dramione-lovin-Slytherdork, Gringle Kirby _for reviewing and also to the three guests for reviewing too! I really, really appreciate it thank you so much! And also thank you to the people who have faved or added this to their alerts, I'm really grateful! ;)))  
**

**Anyhoo, I hope you enjoy this chapter, as always constructive criticism and just reviews in general are greatly appreciated and if there are any mistakes in this then please let me know so I can correct it! Thank you!**

* * *

Chapter 4 – Wolf

* * *

The next day, I'd managed to convince my mother to let me stay off school (don't ask me how, I was pretty surprised myself when she let me) and since she had to go to work (and so did Stevie-Boo) I got the house to myself, which meant I was most likely going to be raiding the fridge all day and watching some films. I don't know why I wanted to stay off (other than the fact I was convinced that I was dying), I mean, sure, I was a little freaked out by that strange tugging sensation in my heart, but that was no reason to stay off, right? No, the reason why I was staying off was because I wanted to avoid Paul. I only ever seemed to get that sensation when I was near him...maybe I was allergic to him?

Wait, is it even _possible _to be allergic to someone?

...Meh, probably not.

Anyways, like I was saying, I was planning on avoiding him. And it had worked so far. It was now twelve in the afternoon, and there'd been no sign of Paul. Well, duh, it wasn't as though he was going to show up at my house, right?

_**Riiiiiing!**_

Yep, just as that thought passed through my head, the doorbell rang, and I froze, clutching a spoon in my hand (I'd been eating my way through a large tub of ice cream before I was so rudely interrupted). Who was that? I wasn't sure on whether to go open the door at first. What if it was some weird homeless guy asking to stay over the night? Or maybe it was those people that always tried to sell you something?

Brandishing the spoon like a weapon, I crept out the kitchen, feeling rather cool and ninja like. Of course, that was until I tripped over my own feet, sprawling down onto the hard, wooden floor. That was when the doorbell rang again. Some people are so impatient. I mean, seriously, just because I don't answer the door right away, didn't mean I wasn't going to. It just meant that I was hoping that by the time I did answer the door, they would have gone, and so then I wouldn't have to socialise.

Sighing, I picked myself up, still clutching the spoon as I hurried to the door. There was no point in trying to sneak, for one they'd probably heard me falling over, and two, it was probably just the postman or someone normal.

However, as I opened the door, I saw it was not the postman (or someone normal). It was Paul. And _I_ was wearing my SpongeBob onesie. Not to mention I probably had ice cream all over my face, and was clutching a small metal spoon as though my life depended on it. Oh, why couldn't I be like those beautiful, simpering girls in the movies where their dream boy would visit their house, and the girls would answer the door wearing their cute/sexy pyjamas and looking like they've just stepped out of a salon? Why did I have to be wearing a SpongeBob onesie? And why did I _have _to be holding a spoon?

At that thought, I let the spoon suddenly slide out of my grip, and it clattered to the floor noisily. Then, he spoke (Paul that is, not the spoon), "Hey," Hey? He shows up at my house when he should be at school (but so should I, to be honest) and says 'hey'? Really? What did he want!? "You weren't in school," Oh, that's what. The way he said it sounded like he was almost demanding an explanation, but I was sort of frozen. And that darned pulling feeling in my heart was back.

"Maybe I really am dying." Oh my God. I hadn't meant to say that out loud! It just sort of slipped out! Why did I say that? What was it with me blurting random things out whenever he was around!? And why did Paul look slightly panicked now? It didn't suit him at all.

"What!?" His voice sounded panicked too, and he suddenly stepped in my house (the cheek of it!) and grabbed me by the shoulders, looking deep into my eyes. "You're dying!?" He started to shake for some reason. Quite badly too. His whole body trembled, and an angry glint appeared in his eyes. Was my dying making him angry? Aw, how sweet!

"Erm...no...I just feel...weird," Okay, I'd said too much. What if he asked me and then I had to tell him about the tugging thing? He'd think I was crazy (though, like I've said many times now, he probably already thought that). "I-I'm fine, though, really! You should g- What are you doing?" I suddenly demanded, as Paul shut the door behind him, his shaking ceasing as he attempted to pick me up bridal style. Well, I was having none of that! Did he think I was incapable of walking properly or something? Sure, I was clumsy at times, but I could walk perfectly fine on my own. I didn't need him trailing me everywhere like toddlers do with their dolls or teddy bears.

"You're sick," He said, and I admit, when he first said this I took it the wrong way. I thought he meant sick as in sick-minded, and I was about to punch him or something, but thankfully, I didn't. "You need to lie down if you feel sick. Go on, go lie down," He pushed me gently. It was weird to see him not smirking or acting cocky for once. Actually, it was rather endearing, seeing him like this.

Wait...what was he even doing here? Why was he trying to take care of me? I'd let a guy, whom I'd only ever spoken to about twice, into my house. "Paul, I'm fine, but you need to go," I declared. Paul merely paused and looked at me in a rather strange manner. "Look, I'm not trying to be mean, but why are you even here?" I asked, staring right back at him. Yesterday he'd been the most annoying bugger I'd ever met, yet today, he was acting nicer. It was weird. Maybe he was ill too? Or drunk, perhaps?

"You weren't in school," He said, repeating himself from before, "I needed to see if you were okay," He frowned suddenly and ran a hand through his hair, looking rather shifty all of a sudden.

"Why? I barely even know you,"

Paul shrugged, before brushing past me and walking into the living room, with me following closely behind. God, he was rather rude, inviting himself into my house and just barging about as if he owned the place. Allie and Gemma had been right when they'd said that the Hunks R Us thought they owned the place.

"Then get to know me," Paul replied, plopping himself down onto the couch, glancing round the room. He patted the spot next to him, "Sit,"

I frowned deeply. What was I to do? I barely even knew him. It wasn't right having a random guy who I barely knew in my house. But then again, it wouldn't hurt if he stayed for five minutes or so, right?

Giving in, I sighed heavily, before plopping down on the opposite side of the sofa, not wanting to sit too close to him in case he thought I was offering him my body (that's why I never send winky-faces in texts either). Of course, he _probably _wouldn't think that, but I still wanted to be cautious. Just in case.

"So, nice house you got here," Paul commented, leaning back into the sofa.

"Thanks. It's not really mine, though, it's Stevie-Boo's,"

Paul turned to look at me, a confused look on his face, "Stevie-Boo's?" Crap. I seriously had to stop calling Steve that. I mean, I'd accidentally called him it to his face yesterday evening, and it's safe to say my mother didn't find it too amusing.

"Erm...yeah...he's just..." I trailed off as Paul suddenly started to edge closer to me, his eyes gazing intensely into mine. What the hell was he doing? Oh my God, he wasn't going to kiss me was he!? Oh my God. He was getting closer and closer by the minute, and I was busy contemplating on whether to karate kick him in the face or make a run for it. Thankfully, I didn't have to do either, as he stopped about ten centimetres away from my face, and slowly brought his large hand up. It was deadly quiet, as slowly he stroked my cheek. I didn't know whether to sing with happiness or push him away. However, he moved back to his side of the couch after a moment, a small smirk on his face.

"Ice cream," He stated, telling me all I needed to know. God, why didn't he tell me before? I mean, sure, I probably would have been equally as embarrassed as I am now, but still. Quickly I wiped my mouth with the sleeve of my onesie, making sure there was no ice cream left on my face. Paul just smirked, before his expression suddenly turned quite serious again. "So, you gonna tell me why you're off?"

Shaking my head, I sighed, "No, but I really think it's time you left. I don't think mom would be too glad if she came home to see a random boy in the house," And with that I chuckled awkwardly. Paul, however, seemed reluctant to leave. Instead, he decided to change the topic.

"Do you have a boyfriend?"

Okay, that was rather forward. And weird. I'd only moved here three days ago, of course I didn't have a boyfriend. What did he think I was? Some sort of slut? And why on earth did he want to know that? "Erm...why?"

Paul merely sighed, rolling his eyes impatiently "Just answer the question," He said, staring intensely at me now.

"No,"

Paul nodded, and seemed to relax a bit, before, "You're not a lesbian or anything like that, right?" Where the hell were all these questions coming from? What did it concern him if I was homosexual or not?

However, instead of questioning him (he seemed like a rather impatient person) I just answered truthfully, "No," I felt awkward just giving him a one worded answer, so I decided to say more, "I'm not. I'm as straight as a lamppost," There. I nodded in a satisfied manner.

"Aren't some lampposts bent at the top?"

He was teasing me, wasn't he? God, the little bugger. Instead of rising to his teasing, I kept my calm. "Shut up, Paul," I said, looking away. He seemed to be going back to his annoying self, and it was...er...annoying. Only one way to describe it really.

"What?" Paul shrugged, feigning innocence, "I'm just saying,"

"Well don't," I stated, grabbing the remote and switching on the TV. Unfortunately, the sports channel had come on, and before I could even think about switching channels, Paul had grabbed the remote out of my hands.

"Keep this on, it's good," He said, his eyes now glued to the TV. God. First he came into my house, acting as though he owned the place, and _now _he was acting as though he owned my television! He wasn't very big on manners now, was he?

I sighed, deciding I would go to the kitchen to plot a way of getting him out of my house. Maybe I could re-enact one of the Home Alone films and set up booby-traps? That would get him out quickly. "Um...I'm going to go eat some...um...food...I think," I said, already thinking up ways of getting him out the house. Unfortunately, as I stood up, he did too, and I had a feeling that I wasn't going to be able to get round to any plotting.

"Great, I'm starving, where's the food?" Erm, what? Was he actually inviting himself to eat some of _my _food in _my _kitchen? Okay. That was it! I'd had enough. If he thinks he was going to get his overly-large hands on my food then he better have another thought coming!

"Out." Yep. I have to admit, I felt pretty pleased with myself when I said that. My voice was surprisingly strong, and my expression stern, "You can come in my house, you can watch the TV, but you can't eat my food, got it?"

Paul merely smirked at this, and I could tell I was literally going to have to force him out. So, with all my might I pushed him back, and God...he was _hot. _And no, I do not mean looks-wise, I meant he actually _felt _hot. I could feel his skin almost burning through his T-shirt. He must have been ill or something though, no one can be that hot temperature wise. It just isn't right.

"C'mon, out,"

Paul seemed to give in at my final words, and he stepped out the door, "Can I come back another time?" He asked, turning back to me. What, what, WHAT? Why? Why did he even want to come back? He barely even knew me! Was everyone in La Push this weird?

"No," I answered, crossing my arms over my chest, trying to look all important and tough. However, due to the fact I was wearing my SpongeBob onesie, this failed.

Despite my answer, Paul's smirk grew wider, "I'll take that as a yes," And with that, he turned round, and strolled away from the house, sending another smirk over his shoulder as he glanced back once.

Had he just invited himself to come back to my house again? Really? Oh my God! I had to lock all my doors! Lock all my windows! Hide the valuables! And for the love of God, I had to hide the food! _I. Had. To. Hide. The. Food!_

* * *

I hate nightmares.

I mean, who doesn't? I actually don't have them a lot. But tonight was different. A few seconds ago I'd actually shot up in bed after having a _particularly_ terrifying nightmare about a wolf...and a carrot. And just so we're clear, it'd been the wolf I'd been scared of, not the carrot.

Anyhoo, to cut a long nightmare short, I'd ended up being eaten alive by a wolf that was about the size of a bear. Not nice. Not nice at all. In fact, I was pretty shaken up. So, hopefully, you'll understand me when I say that I was absolutely petrified when I decided to open my window for some fresh air, only to spot a wolf sitting in the garden staring up at me.

Yep. A wolf. And it was huge! Bigger than the one in my nightmare, though it still had the same dark silver fur. The strangest thing about the wolf though, was that it strongly reminded me of someone, which that itself was very disturbing as how can a _wolf _remind me of an actual human being. It was creepy. And for some reason as I stood at the window with my hair resembling a bush, I couldn't look away.

Well, I couldn't at _first_, but after a few seconds of staring at the wolf, I snapped back to my senses. What the hell did I think I was doing? Why wasn't I panicking!? I should've been panicking!

"**...MOOOOOOOOOM!"**

Yep. The panicking had begun.

Sprinting out of my room (yes, literally sprinting) I zoomed out into the hallway, immediately dashing down the stairs, "The front doors not locked!" I screamed, heading straight to the front door. Only it was locked, but I couldn't think straight. I mean, there was a bloody well _massive _and most likely human-eating wolf in the garden! Who wouldn't panic!?

I could hear my mother running down the stairs, but I was too preoccupied with running to the kitchen and making sure that was locked too. It wasn't until I was making sure the windows were all locked did she catch up with me.

Grabbing me by the shoulders, she started to shake me "What the _hell _is wrong with you!?" She demanded, her eyes wide and her hair looking even messier than mine.

"There's an effing _wolf _in the garden, woman! That's what's wrong!" I screeched, "A wolf! _A wolf! _Get a gun! Get a _harpoon!_ Just get something, it's going to break in here any minute and kill us all!"

...Yes. I admit. Maybe I was going a _little _over the top, but to be fair, I had just had a nightmare about one eating me. And like I've said, I can be _very _overdramatic. But even for me this was perhaps going a bit too far, and my mom seemed to sense this.

She stared at me silently for a moment or two, her eyes narrowing, before, "What on earth are you talking about, Cora?" Her look turned suspicious, "Have you been taking drugs?"

Oh, really? Really? _Drugs?_

"Oh, Jesus Christ, _no, _mom! I have not been taking drugs, but," I took a deep breath, "There is a mother effing _wolf _in _our _garden and if we don't get help it's going to break in and-"

"Whuz' going on?" Yep. That was Steve, trailing into the kitchen with his eyes half closed and looking as though he'd been ran over with a truck.

"Not now, Stevie-Boo!" I snapped, flapping him away. Couldn't he see this was urgent? I couldn't be dealing with his little interruptions right now. After all, there was a wolf outside probably waiting to come in!

Mom sighed in an exasperated manner, "So, you're saying there is a wolf in the garden?" Finally! The woman gets it! I nodded eagerly, finally glad that she understood what I was trying to tell her, however, that feeling soon disappeared as she walked over to the kitchen window, and pushed aside the blinds.

"Oh my God! What are you doing!?" I exclaimed, immediately tying to pry her away from the window, "Don't do that, woman! It'll see you and then we'll all be doomed! _Doomed!_" At that point I was almost in hysterics, however, mom just stayed calmed, and instead, stepped aside, still holding open the blinds.

"Do you see a wolf?" She asked, raising her eyebrows, looking _very _impatient now, "Because I don't, Cora," I froze, stopping my panicky flapping about and instead, stared out the kitchen window. She was right. There was no wolf. There was nothing. Nothing but a tree, and a bush.

"Oh," I looked down at my feet sheepishly, "Sorry," I bit my lip, feeling rather confused. Had I imagined the wolf? Was it really there? Maybe I was literally going crazy. I mean, who imagines a wolf sitting in their own back garden staring up at them? Not a normal person, that's for sure.

"Turn the lights off before you go upstairs," My mom said, not looking at all pleased. In fact, her face was stony, and as she brushed past me, grabbing Stevie-Boo's hand, she threw a sharp glare over her shoulder. Yep. She was mad.

I sighed, deciding to follow suit and go back to bed. I was so sure I hadn't imagined that wolf. I mean, it had been _there. _It had really been there. At least, I thought it had. I could clearly remember it sitting there on the long, unkempt grass, staring up at me, its fur shining in the moonlight. It had been there. I'd seen it with my own eyes. I was sure of it.

As I trudged up the stairs, down the hallway and into my room, I couldn't help but feel a little on edge. What if I had imagined it, and I _was _going crazy? What then? People would think I was a lunatic. And I'm not. I'm sure of it.

Sighing again, I climbed into my bed, before staring up at the ceiling. But what if I _hadn't _imagined it, and there _was _some giant wolf on the loose. I had to tell someone, right? People could get hurt. It wasn't right to just ignore it. That wolf could be and most likely was dangerous. I had to tell the authorities. But I could tell right then that I wasn't going to. Despite being sure I'd seen it, there was also a chance that I'd imagined it. I mean, I had been half asleep, right? And since I'd just had a nightmare about the very same wolf, my mind could have just been playing tricks on me. God, I was so confused.

Turning onto my side, I reached over to the end table next to my bed, and switching off my bedside lamp, I was immediately plunged into darkness, feeling nothing but confused and slightly edgy.


	5. Blondie

**(A/N) Okay, another update xD I kinda struggled with this chapter a little, and some of it's important...well, actually a lot of the chapter is quite important...sort of...cos there's a few _extremely _subtle hints to some stuff. Does that sound kinky? I don't know, I just read it over and the 'hints to some stuff' bit sounded kinky xD Okay, it's not meant to sound kinky ;P Oh, and also, I think this chapter's a tiny bit shorter than my other ones, but only by a little bit...I think ;D **

**Anyhoo, as usual thank you to everyone who faved or followed this! I really am grateful, and I'm glad you guys like it so far ;3 And, of course, thank you to _Loula Lahote, Jewels47, kriscrable, booklover1598, OMG iTs JeSsY, sammigirl23, UnicornsLoveBananas97, Gringle Kirby, MrsMaynard, FreedomWriter15, dallo33 _for reviewing, and also to the guest who reviewed too! Thank you guys so much! You make my day! And you give me so much motivation, so thank you very much ;3  
**

**Oh, and also, I was asked to do a recap of the last chapter, but I'm not really sure how to do recaps, so I'm not going to include it in the actual chapter. Instead, I'll just post it here in the author's note cos I honestly have no idea how to do recaps, so I'm really sorry ^-^; **

**RECAP: (Okay, again, sorry this recap is probably gonna be really shitty) Chapter 4 – In which Cora got the day off because she thought she was dying, and so the ever annoying Paul visited her house for no apparent reason, thus, confusing Cora greatly. Paul then proceeds to be the most annoying guest ever. ****That night, Cora has a nightmare about a wolf, and then freaks out like a silly potato upon seeing the very same wolf outside her window. After waking everyone up, it turns out the wolf has mysteriously disappeared, resulting in Cora feeling extremely confused on whether she actually saw the wolf or not.**

**Okay, so is that alright? I don't know if it counts as a recap or not. I hope it's okay, if not can someone message me telling me how to do a proper recap? Thank you so much, and again, my apologies if it doesn't really count as a recap ;3**

**Constructive criticism (and reviews in general) are appreciated greatly! ;)))**

* * *

Chapter 5 – Blondie

* * *

My mother was not at all happy with me the next morning, and I took that as a sign that she'd not _quite _forgiven me from my little episode last night. All through breakfast, she shot angry glares at me, her blood shot eyes (from lack of sleep) making her look rather menacing. And it was for that reason, that I was greatly relieved and pleasantly surprised when no one other than Allie visited the house, offering me a ride to school. And what was even more surprising was that she could actually drive. I didn't know she could! I guess you learn something new every day.

Anyhoo, after almost sprinting out the house (I'd been doing that a lot recently) and into Allie's almost-as-battered-and-old-as-my-mothers car, I immediately bombarded her with the story of that wolf. I'm pretty sure that I may have been exaggerating a bit when I told her about it (I can specifically remember telling her that I'd actually gone outside and 'gave that wolf a piece of my mind'). However, instead of being impressed or concerned or anything like that, Allie seemed rather reluctant to talk about it.

"I'm sure it was nothing, Cora," She told me once I'd finished telling her the gripping tale of how I'd confronted the wolf, which actually did not happen. But to be honest, I didn't really want to tell her I'd freaked out and panicked. "You said you had a nightmare, right? It was probably just your mind playing tricks on you," She finished, her eyes staring determinedly ahead. I admit, she had a point, but I was so sure I hadn't imagined it, and in a way I was scared. If that wolf had just been a segment of my imagination, surely that meant I was starting to lose my marbles, right? I didn't want to lose my marbles. In fact, I liked my marbles.

"I'm telling you, Allie, I'm sure it was real. I mean, honestly, if you'd seen it you'd have been peeing yourself with fright! I was!" I froze, before quickly back-tracking, "Well, I wasn't literally peeing myself, but you know what I mean. I'm sure it was real!"

Allie just hummed in response, her eyes fixed on the road ahead, and her grip on the steering wheel much tighter than it had been before. I just took that as my cue to continue on my little rant, "Besides, we're surrounded by a forest here! There's probably a bunch of wolves waiting in those trees, getting ready to kill us all," I took a deep breath, trying to calm myself down, "It's like the apocalypse,"

"Ha!"

Yep. That small snort of laughter came from Allie, and I have to admit, I was a _little _offended. _How _was any of this even remotely funny? We were all going to die and she was laughing!

"I'm sorry, Allie, but what part of the apocalypse do you find so funny? Hm? We're all going to die, and you're sitting here laughing!" I exclaimed, my voice becoming rather hysterical. Why wouldn't anyone believe me about this wolf thing? I mean, sure, the part about me going to confront the wolf was quite unrealistic, but like I've said, I tend to exaggerate just a little bit. However, I was not at all exaggerating when I said there'd been a wolf in my garden. I mean, the more I thought about it, the more sure I was that the whole thing had been real. There had definitely been a wolf in my back garden last night, I was sure of it. And to be fair, I did make a pretty good point when I said we were surrounded by a massive forest. It was probably _crawling _with wolves.

Allie, however, seemed to disagree. Instead, she chuckled again, "Look, Cora, you're probably just being a little over-dramatic," ...Okay, she had a good point. I _am_ known for being over-dramatic at times. "Besides, it was probably just a bear," Oh my God. Just a bear? _Just _a bear? _Just a bloody bear!?_

"_How _is that meant to be reassuring!? Bears are probably just as bad as wolves! And besides, I'm not stupid! I know my bears from my wolves, y'know,"

"Cora," Allie sighed, now sounding a little impatient. In fact, her grip on the steering wheel had somehow got even tighter, and I was surprised she hadn't ripped the whole thing off yet. "It's nothing, okay? Just forget about it. There's no point in worrying others about it all. Let's just forget it, okay?" She was purposely avoiding the topic. I could tell. I knew something was up, she just didn't want to talk about it, and so I was nice enough to change the topic.

"Erm...so where's Gemma?" Yeah, I know, not the most interesting topic, but it was either that or one of my funny-to-me-but-not-to-anyone-else jokes. And we all know how disastrous _those _can be.

"She slept at her boyfriends last night," Allie replied, her tone much lighter now. She seemed rather relieved that I'd changed the topic, "So he's giving her a ride to school instead," I nodded.

"Hogan? That's his name, right?"

Allie laughed awkwardly, "Erm...it's Logan, actually," Oh, right. Logan. Well, I was close enough, right? Logan, Hogan. Nobody can tell the difference, they're basically the same name. Y'know, apart from the two first letters.

"So, do you have a boyfriend too?" I asked, deciding to be extra nosy. I was expecting Allie to say yes, that she did have a boyfriend, however, her answer highly surprised me.

"No, I'm waiting for the right one," Waiting for the right one? I'll admit, I didn't really get her answer. I mean, how could she even be sure when the right one came along? She wouldn't be able to know, right?

"The right one?" I asked, curiosity laced in my voice. Allie merely smiled in a secretive manner, casting me a quick glance which clearly told me she knew something I didn't. It confused me. However, her answer to my question confused me even _more._

"You'll find out in time," She said, before quickly adding, "Maybe,"

What the hell was she on about? And why did she say it so mysteriously, as if it was some great big super, super, _super _secret? I really wanted to know. I mean, she might as well have danced around me singing '_I know something you don't know~_'. God.

As a sudden silence fell between the two of us, I couldn't help but sigh heavily. La Push sure was a curious place. Or more like, La Push was filled with a bunch of curious people. What with Paul, and the steroid gang, and of course, Allie and Gemma, with their mysterious warnings and secretive glances. Something was going on in this place. I was sure of it. But what? I had no idea.

* * *

English.

It was safe to say this was now my least favourite subject. And yes. The reason for this was Paul. Again, as soon as I'd sat down, he'd proceeded with the annoying kicking of my chair, with that cocky smirk on his face. God. Why did he hate me? No, in fact, why did _God _hate me? Why did _everything _and _everyone _hate me!? I mean, even the English teacher hated me, and this was proven when she gave me a detention because of some idiot who was not only trying to break my chair, but also break my bottom.

In fact, as I sat there, gritting my teeth to prevent myself from lashing out at Paul, I couldn't help but imagine smashing my chair over his head. Seriously, how could one person be so annoying? Yesterday he'd been almost nice (if a little rude...and weird) yet today he'd gone back to plain old annoying Paul. I just didn't get it.

Anyhoo, after enduring the endless and very painful kicking of my chair for as long as I could, I finally lost it. Well, I didn't _really _lose it. I more like went to turn around to tell Paul off, only the teacher noticed, and immediately thought I wasn't paying attention to her oh-so-important lesson, which I wasn't.

"Coralie Kingston!" I jumped as she almost shouted my name, and before turning round, I shot what I hoped was a deadly glare at Paul. I could tell what was going to happen. _I _was going to get told off because some complete and utter fool was kicking my chair, "And Paul Lahote!" Oh...never mind. Looks like Paul was going to get told off as well. My life is complete!

"I'm sorry, but is my lesson interrupting your conversation?" Oh my God. Here come the smarty-pants comments from the teacher. I swear, they always say the same things, it's like they can't think of anything new.

Anyhoo, I quickly shook my head, keeping my mouth firmly shut, unlike Paul, who snorted loudly and stared out the window, the usual cocky look on his face. God, I felt like punching him.

"Is there something funny, Mr Lahote?" Okay, I admit, I did snicker a little bit when she called him that. It just sounded so weird, hearing such a rough and impolite person like Paul being called mister. But that's what got us the detention. My laugh. But I would never have laughed if he hadn't of snorted which then led to the teacher calling him Mr Lahote. So technically, it was all his fault, and so, I shall put the entire blame on him. Yes. That sounds about right.

"Fine, if you two think talking during my lesson is so funny, then you can laugh about it in detention tomorrow at lunch!" Oh snap. "Not so funny now is it?" She added, with a smug smirk on her face. She was right. It wasn't funny. Not only was I most likely going to miss the whole of my lunch, I was also going to have to spend it with, dare I say his name, _Paul. _Yep. Again, life clearly hated me. And so did my English teacher.

And so, for the rest of the lesson I sat in complete silence, looking rather bored, however, on the inside, I was fuming. Not only had I gotten a detention, but Paul had resumed with the annoying kicking of the chair. I hated him so much now. I mean, God help him if he ever dared to come to my house again.

Even as the bell rang, I kept my silence up (which is saying something for me, I don't think I've ever been this quiet before) and got out of my seat without a word, only pausing to throw Paul an angry glare, before stalking out the classroom with a deep frown on my face.

It was until a few seconds later did I speak. Well, I didn't really speak. Well...actually I did. But I only uttered a quiet 'sorry' after bumping into some girl, and almost knocking her clean out. The girl had long, blonde hair, and I was shocked to see she had pale skin (most people on the reservation were russet-skinned). And darn her, she was pretty, what with her big brown eyes and prominent cheekbones. God, ever since I'd moved to La Push I'd been feeling uglier and uglier by the minute.

"Oi! Cora!" Oh, great. It was Paul. What did the git want now?

"What do _you _want?" I asked, surprised at how venomous my tone sounded. Paul seemed surprised too, as he stopped in front of me, his eyebrows raised in confusion. Okay, if he didn't know I was currently mad at him then he was an idiot.

"I just want- What are _you _looking at?" He suddenly snarled, his eyes sliding past me. Turning round, I saw the blonde girl, who was currently glaring at me, though it soon disappeared and soon her expression resembled that of a deer caught in the headlights. She shook her head, flashing me a dirty look before scurrying off. Sure, I'd almost knocked her out before, but there was no need for her to look at me like that, right? Sheesh, some people. I mean, I'd apologized hadn't I? She seemed even huffier than me!

"Little bitch," I heard Paul mutter, and I turned back to him, with an affronted look on my face. That was _extremely _uncalled for, and I knew it was time to introduce him to the sassy side of me. Which _isn't_ very sassy, let me tell you.

"Excuse me?" I asked, flipping my hair over my shoulder and raising my eyebrows. Paul merely chuckled. What? Why was he laughing? He'd just called me a little bitch. I failed to see how that was funny.

"Not you, I was on about blondie," Oh. Right. I cleared my throat.

"I knew that," I was lying, of course, and judging by the look on Paul's face, he knew I was lying too. However, one thing confused me. Why did he tell her off for glaring at me? It wasn't as though he and I were friends. In fact, if anything he was the opposite of a friend to me right now, what with getting me a detention. Still, I was curious as to why he'd stuck up for me, and so I decided to question him. "Why'd you stick up for me?"

"What?" Paul froze, looking at me in a confused manner.

"You stuck up for me," A grin slowly started to slide on my face as Paul shifted about awkwardly, "Ooh, sweetie-pie-Paulie stuck up for me, how cute," I cooed. It was funny to see such a wild, aggressive looking guy sticking up for someone. I couldn't help but tease him, despite the fact he'd actually sort of been nice to me by telling blondie off.

Paul, however, didn't seem too happy with the teasing, and instead, he frowned, his features becoming rather stony, and with an angry, "Shut up," He walked off, not looking back. Had I offended him? I mean, sure, I could have been a tiny bit more grateful for him sticking up for me, but it wasn't _that _big of a deal, right? Right? _Right?_

"I saw that,"

"OH MY JESUS EFFING CHRIST! WHAT?" I screeched, jumping about a foot in the air and earning quite a few weird glances due to my little outburst. To be fair, though, it was Gemma's fault. She'd literally appeared out of nowhere, with a solemn look on her face.

"Calm down," She hissed, looking rather embarrassed at the looks we were receiving. I couldn't help it though, "It's just me,"

Well, yes. I could see that now.

"Why are you still talking to Paul?" Oh God. Back on this subject again? Very well.

"The bugger got me a detention," I explained, glaring in the direction he'd walked off in. Gemma merely smiled in a smug manner.

"Told you to avoid him. Nothing good can come out of talking to him, see?" She said, and I sighed, nodding, "Besides, looks like Amber hates you now," Oh my God. Really? Someone else hates me now? God, the list of people who now hated me was becoming ridiculously long. Was I really _that _bad?

"Who's Amber?" I asked, my eyes searching the corridor for any signs of this Amber girl.

"The blonde one," Oh, her.

"Ah, I did notice the filthy look she gave me," I replied, turning my gaze back to Gemma, who smirked.

"No wonder, everyone knows she likes Paul," Ah, so blondie likes Paul, eh? "I don't know why though, he's awful. Besides, she's never even spoke to him. Good thing too," I felt quite a bit like a gossiping house-wife right now, and I have to admit, it was kinda fun. In a weird way. I'd never really been one for gossiping, but today was different. Still, I was kind of confused. Why did she hate me? I'd only been speaking to him, it wasn't as though I'd been aggressively making out with him or anything like that. Okay, I may have drooled at that thought, despite his ultra annoyingness.

"I don't see why she hates me?"

Gemma just shot me a look that clearly said that she thought I was stupid, "Because she likes Paul," She said, as though the reason why she hated me was obvious, "And she's too shy to talk to him, so when girls talk to him she probably gets jealous because she can't. It was so funny when Paul started dating Chloe Mata. I thought Amber was literally going to kill her. And when he dated that Dana girl, oh my God, I was half expecting Dana to turn up dead or something," Ah. That sort of made sense. Sort of.

"So, what you're saying is that blondie is a psycho?"

"No!" Gemma shot me a shocked look, "Of course not! She's just got a huge crush on Paul," Ah, right. Got it.

"Oh, right. I'm hungry," I said, before starting to head to the cafeteria, with Gemma walking right beside me. "God, help me in my detention tomorrow,"

Gemma laughed lightly, "Don't worry," She stated, shooting me an amused look as my stomach suddenly rumbled loudly. What? I was hungry! "Paul will probably just skip it. He thinks he's so tough, going against the rules. They all do," She said, snorting in disgust. By 'they' I assumed she was talking about the La Push gang. However, I was sort of disappointed at what she'd said, and I had no idea why. Was Paul really going to skip the detention? Despite my current dislike for him, deep down I sort of hoped he wouldn't. It was weird. He annoyed me, and yet, I still wanted to see him. And that was when I decided I was finally going crazy. I mean, how can you not like someone but still want to see them? It was madness! It just wasn't right. Yet, despite my obvious lunacy, I was actually looking forward to the detention, hoping that he would show up.

Yep. I'd finally gone insane. Stupid Paul.


	6. Why Is Everyone Being So Weird?

**(A/N) Gah, sorry I took longer than usual to update, I had an art exam that I've most likely failed and I was trying to concentrate on that ;) But it doesn't really matter, I reckon I've failed ;P **

**Anyhoo, I'm not too keen on this chapter. Mainly because it's quite a bit shorter than my others, and because...well, I dunno. I'm just not too keen on it xD I swear I'll try to make the next chapter better, though, so please stick with me ;D**

**As usual, thank you to everyone who faved and followed, and thank you to _kriscrable, booklover1598, UnicornsLoveBananas97, Jewels47, scarllett angel, MrsMaynard, Breanna3593, LifeIsTooShortEatIceCream _and to the two guests for reviewing. Again, I really appreciate it and you guys motivate me so much so thank you ;)))  
**

**Anyways, I hope you enjoy this chapter and as always please review telling me what you think. Constructive criticism is greatly appreciated ;D**

* * *

Chapter 6 – Why Is Everyone Being So Weird!?

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Just as Gemma had predicted, Paul had not showed up. Well, he _did_, just not on time.

I'd been rather giddy about this detention with Paul ever since my little chat with Gemma about blondie- I mean Amber. And despite her warnings, I'd somehow managed to convince myself that he would turn up, and that he wouldn't skip the detention. I mean, you don't really earn anything from skipping a detention. Just another detention really.

And so, upon entering my empty English classroom, and being instructed to sit down at my usual desk, I was half surprised and half disappointed to see Paul was not there. Surprised because I'd actually thought he would have shown up, and disappointed because I'd kind of wanted to see him, despite him being _very _annoying. And rude. Still, he wasn't that bad. I mean, he had stood up for me in a way, when Amber had glared at me like that. And then, of course, I'd gone and offended him. Unintentionally, of course. Though, I will say, he must have been pretty darn sensitive if he'd gotten offended over me _lightly_ teasing him for sticking up for me. Maybe I should have been a little more grateful?

Anyhoo, after sitting in silence for a few minutes, watching the clock tick away slowly, the teacher (Mrs Culpepper) slowly walked over to me, and sat down on the desk in front. God, she wasn't going to start screaming in my face, was she? I hated it when teachers shouted.

"Cora," I was surprised at how quiet her voice sounded. "You know I'm very disappointed in you, yes?" Oh God, she was trying to make me feel guilty, wasn't she? Well, it was not going to work. No, sir.

"And, I can't help but feel the current seating plan is distracting you," Oh my God. How did she know!? Please say she was going to allow me to move seats (preferably to the other side of the room, away from Paul). "But I'm afraid you can't let boys distract you from your schoolwork, Cora. You need to stick in, I know you've been here for barely even a week, but I can tell you have the potential to get a good grade in English. Don't let Mr Lahote distract you, okay?" There she goes again with the 'Mr Lahote' shizz. It wasn't as amusing now though. I was more flustered at the fact that she thought Paul was distracting me because she thought I _liked _him! Ha!

Now, I'm not one to tell tales, but I couldn't have her going to the staff room and gossiping with all the other teachers about how I apparently liked Paul. Oh, no. That wouldn't do. So instead, I told her the truth, "It's not really Paul distracting me," I said, before frowning lightly, "Well, it sort of is, but not in that way,"

"Oh?" Mrs Culpepper raised her eyebrows.

"It's just, he keeps kicking my chair. That's what's distracting me," I paused, before, "Is it possible I could move seats?"

I could tell straight away what the answer was going to be. She shook her head, a slightly sympathetic look on her face, "I'm sorry, Miss Kingston, but I'm afraid that's not possible. If I move you, then others will want to move seats too, and I just can't do that," Ah. That old excuse, eh? Very well.

I sighed heavily, and nodded. I suppose I was just going to have to put up with Paul's annoying antics.

"You may leave now," Mrs Culpepper said, getting up and returning to her desk at the front of the classroom. I have to admit, I was surprised at this, she'd only kept me for a few minutes, however, that didn't stop me from almost sprinting towards the door of the classroom. I suppose she felt a bit sorry for me, knowing that Paul was going to forever be a nuisance to me in English.

Speaking of Paul, as I pulled open the classroom door, there he stood with a surprised look on his face. He was panting heavily, as though he'd been running.

"Cora?" He asked. Maybe he'd forgotten that he'd gotten me a detention too yesterday? "Where are you going?"

I stared at him confused, "I'm going to go have my lunch," I was fully aware that Mrs Culpepper was sitting at her desk, and most likely listening in on our conversation, hoping to hear something juicy.

"But we had a detention," He said, and I nodded. Clearly _someone _needed a watch.

"I know we did," I spoke slowly, as though speaking to someone who was incredibly simple, "But I arrived on time, unlike _someone,_" Paul merely smirked, and shrugged lightly. See? He wasn't being annoying now! He was actually being conversational and nice. Well, not necessarily _nice, _but he wasn't being rude either.

"I'm only late by a few minutes," He said, his eyes now turning almost pleading. Why? I sighed, and mirrored his previous actions by shrugging, before attempting to brush past him. I wanted my lunch, and he was holding me up. I wasn't sure how much longer my stomach would stay silent for. However, as I proceeded to brush past him, he suddenly grabbed my arm, his grip gentle yet firm. I looked at him in confusion, as he uttered only one word, "Stay,"

Stay? _Stay? _His tone was strong, and almost commanding. Did he expect me to sit with him through his detention and talk to him? Or was he trying to make me starve? I just didn't get it. In fact, I didn't get Paul Lahote in general. He was confusing. But then again, a lot of boys are. And so are girls.

As I stood in silence, staring up at him and fully aware that his large hand was still gripping my arm, I looked down the hallway, noticing two girls watching me with their piercing eyes. Allie and Gemma. So, now I had to choose. Keep Paul company in detention, which would evidently go against all of Allie's and Gemma's warnings about staying away from him, _or _I could go have my lunch with my two only friends, and allow Paul to suffer his detention alone. And for some reason, the latter made me feel guilty. And I don't know why. I mean, I obviously valued my friends before boys. And it wasn't as though I had a crush on Paul, so why was he affecting me like this?

I sighed, and gently removed his hand off my arm. As much as it pained me to do so, I was going to have to let Paul endure his detention without my company. My friends were more important to me. That and I was pretty sure my stomach would soon be making noises that would resemble a dying walrus. I needed food.

"I'm sorry," I smiled at him sympathetically, noticing the disappointed look on his face, "But I'm about to die of starvation here," And with that, I headed off towards Allie and Gemma, whom I noticed were sending off glares in Paul's direction.

"What was all that about?" Gemma asked, as soon as I reached them. I merely shrugged.

"Dunno, we just had a detention," I refrained myself from rubbing it in Gemma's face that she'd sort of been wrong about saying Paul wouldn't turn up. He had turned up. Even if it was a bit late.

"Typical. He can't even turn up on time," Gemma muttered, shoving her hands in the pockets of her jeans as we started walking off in the direction of the cafeteria. Gemma turned to Allie, "I haven't seen you all day, where were you? Did you skip Math?" I also turned to Allie, feeling rather curious. Allie didn't really seem like the type to skip class, though whether or not she _had _skipped class, she didn't want to talk about it. Instead, she shrugged.

"Just had some things to do," She muttered, in a mysterious tone. Now, _I _had no idea what she was on about when she said this, but clearly Gemma did as she nodded, her expression changing suddenly. She had a small, secretive smile on her face, and clearly, they were hiding from me. Despite how curious I was, though, I didn't bother asking what it was they were hiding, I didn't really want to impose. I mean, they would tell me in their own time, right? Nevertheless, I had to stop myself from grabbing one of them by the shoulders and shaking them continuously until one of them told me their great big secret.

Thankfully, though, we soon reached the cafeteria, and immediately I was distracted by the food. God, I was hungry. I'd skipped breakfast that morning from fear of my mother (she still wasn't happy about the waking her up because of the wolf thing). So, upon buying my food and sitting down at the table with Gemma and Allie, I immediately began to wolf down my food, though I began to eat a lot more nicely once we were joined by three boys. One of them was Logan, Gemma's boyfriend, the other two? I had no bloody clue.

Thankfully, Allie did, "Oh, Cora, this is Steve and Carl," I twitched at the name Steve. God. I was going to have to refrain from adding 'boo' the end of his name. "Guys, this is Cora, she's new," The boys nodded, and muttered their greetings, before Carl immediately turned to Allie, striking up a conversation with her, and leaving me and Steve to sit there awkwardly, not quite knowing what to say.

However, the silence between the two of us soon became unbearable, and so, I decided to do the stupid thing, and talk, "So, Stevie-Boo," Yep. I wasn't even able to complete one sentence before messing up and embarrassing myself. In spite of my little mistake, Steve snorted, taking me completely by surprise, Did he laugh? Did he actually laugh? He wasn't creeped out at the fact I'd accidentally called him 'Stevie-Boo'?

"You're funny," Steve said, smiling at me in a friendly manner. At first, I thought he was teasing me, but after I few seconds I realised that he was actually being _genuine_. Wow. I was flattered.

"Well, yeah, I do try," I said, a large grin on my face as I shrugged in what I hoped was an offhand manner. Secretly, I was screaming for joy on the inside. Someone _finally _found me funny!

Steve smiled, before scooting his chair closer to mine, so that we could talk easier. It was rather loud in the cafeteria, "So, where are you from?" Steve asked.

"England," I replied, smiling widely. I liked talking to Steve. He didn't seem fazed by my weirdness at all.

"I've always wanted to go to England," He told me, nodding his head, "Is it nice there?" I merely shrugged, before glancing round the cafeteria. My eyes soon landed on the La Push gangs table. Or, really I should say, the Hunks R Us table. I was quite shocked and very scared to find out they were all staring at me and Steve. Though one in particular caught my eyes. Paul. I'd guess Mrs Culpepper had let him leave the detention early as well.

I bit my lip, realising I hadn't answered Steve's question, "Um...yeah. I-it's pretty nice," I replied, my eyes still glued to Paul. Even from across the room I could see he was visibly shaking, and I decided that he was either _very _cold or _very _angry...or very nervous. But Paul didn't seem the type to get nervous.

After a few more seconds, Paul's shaking increased, and I watched him as he stood up out of his chair, knocking it backwards as he did so. Steve seemed to realise I was distracted, and had decided to also stare at Paul, who quickly ran out of the cafeteria, slamming open the door. Upon leaving, Jared and a boy who I didn't recognize but clearly was part of the La Push gang stood up, and hurried out the room after Paul. Something was wrong. I could tell.

I sighed heavily, before turning back to Steve, who was now stealing some food from my tray as though it were completely normal.

God. It would be an understatement to say that the people of La Push were weird.

* * *

It was back.

The wolf was back.

And I am glad to say, that this time, I did not freak out. Nope. Though at the time I had contemplated on waking my mother up, however, I decided against it, as she'd still not _quite _forgiven me.

Anyhoo, it had been about an hour and a half after midnight when I'd woken up, and again, I'd had a nightmare. And _again, _it had been about that wolf. This time, however, it had not eaten me, which I was very thankful for, though, I was still incredibly worried. I mean, it was the exact same wolf I'd dreamt about last time, and it struck me as weird that I was dreaming about it again.

It had been then that the idea to look out of my window had come upon me. I mean, why I thought to look outside, I had no idea. I just had this strange urge to go over to the window, push aside the curtains and take a small peek. And so I did.

And that was then I saw the wolf. Only this time I didn't panic (surprise!), I mean, sure, I jumped a little (though it just ended up looking as though I had a strange twitch in my legs) but I didn't panic. For one I could specifically remember my mother locking the front and back door, so there was no chance that the wolf could actually get in (I hoped).

I couldn't help but feel slightly relieved as I stared down at the wolf. I mean, surely this was proof it was real, and not just part of my imagination? Right? Even as it stared right back up at me, I didn't freak out, I just looked right back. It was weird. It was like I was having some sort of moment with the wolf.

Oh my God. It's official. I was going crazy. I mean, seriously! _Who _has a 'moment' with a wolf? It's just not normal! And so, with that in mind, I broke out of my staring-competition with the wolf, and quickly stepped away from the windows, letting the curtains fall back into place.

La Push was driving me crazy.


	7. An Awkward Encounter

**(A/N) Okay, first off, I am so sorry for how immature this chapter is ;P You'll get what I mean when you read the first part and notice the nicknames given for...yeah. And secondly, please excuse the word 'dingle' as I don't have a single bloody clue where I came up with it. And again, you probably won't know what I'm talking about right now, but once you read the chapter, you'll know. So yes, my apologies for being extremely immature with this ;D Nevertheless I had so much fun writing this chapter, it's probably one of my favourite chapters so far, and it was definitely a lot of fun to write ;P**

**Anyhoo, thank you to everyone who faved and followed my story, I really appreciate it and I'm glad you guys like this so far ;3 And also, thank you to _laurenloveswriting, IzzyTheNinja, booklover1598, live2livemylife, GringleKirby, Mollydolly1996, NobleAndAncientLineBlack, UnicornsLoveBananas97, BananaSmoothie, kriscrable, __LifeIsTooShortEactIceCream_ and to the guestfor reviewing! Thank you guys so much for your comments and constructive criticism! ;3**

**Oh, and also, Happy Easter (Idk if I'm early in saying this I think I am but meh.) I hope you guys have a lovely spring break! ;) **

**Anyhoo, I hope you enjoy this chapter, and if there are any mistakes then please let me know! Reviews and constructive criticism are greatly appreciated! ;3**

**Oh, and to the anon who asked how old I am, I'm 15, but I turn 16 in June ;P**

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Chapter 7 – An Awkward Encounter

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The next day I found myself very surprised.

And let me say, it was probably one of the best surprises I'd ever received, if a _little _inappropriate.

After a boring day of working hard at school (yeah right) I was extremely relieved once the final bell rang, signalling it was time for me to begin my usual walk home. However, this walk turned out not to be so usual. In fact, it turned out to be rather _unusual. _See what I did there, eh? Eh? Eh?

Anyways, upon nearing my house, there was a chorus of twigs snapping from somewhere in the trees and bushes. Now, immediately my first thought was to scream and run away, raving like a lunatic, however, what happened next made that thought immediately vanish. In fact, it made all of my thoughts vanish, and left my brain completely empty, with nothing but the sweet, sweet image of...yeah, I'll shut up about that.

Anyhoo, as I stood there, contemplating on whether to run or not, out of the bushes emerged Paul.

And he was _naked._

Yep. Naked.

This seriously topped my list of my most awkward encounters I'd ever come across, and I had a feeling it would remain at the top of that list for the rest of my life. I mean, seriously.

Paul was _naked. _He was actually naked and standing there in all his...er...naked glory. And as I stood there, staring at him and desperately urging myself not to look down, he spoke.

"Uh...hey," He tried to smirk in his usual cocky manner, but it looked more awkward than anything else, but it was his own fault that he felt awkward. I mean, what kind of person just walks around stark naked in _public!?_ When I'd said the people of La Push were weird, I'd been right. Nevertheless, I decided to act as though nothing were wrong, as though he _wasn't _standing there naked.

"Erm...'Sup?" I smiled awkwardly, swinging my arms lightly by my side as I looked around, my eyes determinedly avoiding Paul and his..._thing_, "The weather's nice today, huh?" It was true. The weather _was _nice for once, but even that couldn't cover up the sheer discomfiture of the encounter, and on top of that, I found that it was becoming harder and harder not to look at Pauls...erm...dingle? Yes. Dingle. I shall call it a dingle. That sounds about right.

Anyhoo, despite the obvious signs that I desperately wanted to escape this little meeting, Paul decided that the fact I had mentioned the weather meant that I was okay talking to him and his jewels, and so decided to strike up a conversation, "Who were those boys you were with at lunch?" Yes. I admit, it wasn't perhaps the best conversation starter, but it would be enough to distract me from his...yeah.

"Just some people I don't really know," I replied, staring at a tree to my left as though I'd never even seen a tree before, "They're friends with Gemma's boyfriend, I think," Paul nodded, and I chanced a glance at him (at his face, not his dingle!) only to see he was now smirking his usual cocky smirk. How did he not feel the _slightest _bit awkward!? And why wasn't he even trying to _attempt _to cover his parts? Why was he letting it hang free in all its glory!? With that in mind, I accidentally let my eyes trail down, which, unfortunately, did not go unnoticed by Paul, whose smirk grew even wider.

"Like what you see?" Okay, he was trying to act all cool, but, seriously, I couldn't take it anymore. And I was pretty sure my ovaries were going to explode any moment now, and so, I decided it was time to make my dramatic exit.

"Oh my God!" I screeched, covering my eyes, then uncovering them again as I turned around, "I can't take it anymore! It's too much! Get that _thing_ away from me!" And with that, I continued on my way home, although now, I was running. And Paul was calling for me. Only I was determined not to turn round. It would only cause more awkwardness. And drooling. Yes. Definitely a lot of drooling.

As I continued to sprint away, I could vaguely hear some bushes rustling again, and I immediately assumed Paul had decided to continue on his naked little adventure through the forest. Which is why I decided to turn back around, for some really odd and stupid reason. I mean, for all I knew, he could've still been standing there naked. Thankfully, though, he wasn't.

However, he did emerge from the trees again a few seconds later, and I was relieved to see he was wearing shorts now (HALLELUJAH! PRAISE THE LORD!). He seemed to sense my relief as he immediately pointed to his shorts, with a slightly exasperated look on his face, "There. Happy?" Not really. Thankfully, though, I managed to keep silent, and instead nodded. At least I could talk to him now without that thing looking right at me. Nevertheless, I still felt extremely awkward. I mean, what are you meant to say to a guy who you barely even know who also just flashed his penis at you?

Paul somehow seemed oblivious to how I felt, and instead, decided that striking up a conversation with me would be good, "So, Cora-" Nope. I'm sorry. I just couldn't do it.

"Paul...erm...it's been nice seeing you...well, actually, it was more awkward than anything, but, I really...um..." I paused, taking a deep breath before just letting it all out, "Paul, I'm sorry but I can't talk to you until the image of your..._thing_ has completely vanished from my brain, so bugger off," And with that, I nodded, before zooming off, not daring to look back.

La Push sure was full of surprises.

* * *

Dodgeball.

_Again. _

God, I hated it. And to make matters worse, Paul was on the other team, so if I messed up (which was very likely) I would most likely be met with that stupid cocky smirk of his. Speaking of Paul, I hadn't seen him since our...erm..._awkward_ encounter which had taken place a few days ago. However, upon entering the gym fully ready to be bombarded with dodgeballs (though hopefully this time my nose wouldn't start bleeding) I spotted Paul straight away standing next to Jared. He was smirking. Why was I _not_ surprised?

The coach (upon seeing the last few students enter the gym) blew the whistle sharply, though thankfully this time it was not in my ear. "Okay, c'mon kids, play a good game! And Cora" I turned to face him. What did the git want? "Try not to get hit in the face, alright?" Damn him. Were teachers allowed to make fun of their students like this? I was about to ask him, when I suddenly became aware that my team had disappeared from my side, and where now running to retrieve the dodgeballs from the middle of the court. I just stood on the spot hoping to blend in with the wall behind me. Unfortunately, that didn't quite work.

Instead, I was almost instantly met with a ball to my face, and _again _my nose actually started to bleed as I dropped down onto my knees. This was a seriously bad case of déjà vu, and this was proven when I glanced up at the culprit, only to find a rather sheepish Jared staring down at me. Yep. Definitely a bad case of déjà vu. Except this time, someone actually decided to help me.

Shoving Jared out of the way roughly with an angry look on his face was Paul, as he hurried over, kneeling down in front of me with a half angry, half concerned look on his face. I swear there was definitely something wrong with this boy. One minute he's being annoying, the next he's being nice, and then before you know it he's walking out of some bushes naked. Now, I'd met some strange people in my time, but to be honest, Paul topped them all. He was the strangest of the strange, but in a charming sort of way. Sort of. Charming, but kind of creepy. Yeah, that works.

As Paul studied my nose, trying to see if it was broken or not (I'm pretty sure it wasn't, it didn't hurt enough) I couldn't help but giggle weakly, before adding a small, "Ow," at the end of it. This time, it actually was pretty funny. I mean, imagine getting hit in the face with a dodgeball _twice _and by the exact same guy. Maybe Jared was just like some sort of dodgeball curse to me?

"L-Lahote," Coach spluttered through his laughter, "T-take her to the n-nurse. God, kid, y-you're a riot," He continued, slapping me on the back, tears now forming in the corners of his eyes. Well, at least he wasn't on all fours laughing this time, right?

"C'mon," Paul muttered. I'm pretty sure he was the only one in the room who didn't see the funny side of this, in fact, he was almost shaking with anger. This guy must have had some _serious _anger issues. I mean, even I was laughing! And I was the one who'd been hit in the face, for God's sake! _Twice!_

Anyhoo, the walk to the nurse's office was pretty awkward for me, mainly because of the random string of profanities that were coming from Paul. I didn't really understand why he was so angry, though. I mean, Jared hadn't meant to hit me in the face (at least I hoped not) and it wasn't as though I was hurt or anything like that. I mean, sure, my nose stung a little and was pouring of blood, but it wasn't exactly serious. It had happened before.

"Um...Paul?" I started, after the endless string of profanities started to get slightly more offensive, "Could you like...stop?" I asked, feeling pretty awkward as he suddenly stopped in the middle of the hallway. He turned to look at me with a confused expression on his face. He hadn't taken that literally, had he?

"Erm...I just meant stop with the cussing," I was feeling more and more awkward by the minute and I hadn't even said anything embarrassing yet, "I didn't mean like _literally _stop,"

"Oh," Paul coughed, before continuing on his way to take me to the nurse's office, "Okay," And thus, the profanities began again.

"Why are you so angry?" C'mon, it had to be asked. I mean, it was me who'd been hit in the face, not him. It was _me _who everyone was probably _still _laughing at (though to be honest, that was nothing new). Why was he angry? Better yet, why did he feel the need to take me to the nurse's office? I'd been once before (and for the exact same reason too). Maybe he thought I was stupid or something? Yeah, that'd be right.

Paul stopped in the middle of the hallway again, and I couldn't help but let out an exasperated sigh. I'm pretty sure I was almost on the verge of taking a tantrum. Paul was just so confusing.

"Look at you, Cora, you look a mess," He stated. The cheeky bugger. As if I didn't already know. I _always _looked a mess. The bloody nose was probably an improvement to my usual look, anyways.

"_Okay, _I get it, I'm ugly, can we move along now, please? If we don't get my nose sorted out soon I'm probably going to die from loss of blood and then-" Paul clamped a hand over my mouth, a deep frown on his face.

"You're not ugly," What, what, WHAT!? "I just meant that you're bleeding,"

I literally had to bite my tongue to stop myself from rolling my eyes and going 'Noooo, really!?'. I'm pretty sure Paul wouldn't have been too happy at that reaction, but seriously, did he always feel the need to point out things that were painfully obvious? Maybe he thought I was simple or something?

"I'm sorry for not stopping it," Paul stated, as he removed his hand from over my mouth, his eyes softening, though his expression remained very solemn.

Okay, he was overreacting big time. I mean, I know I can be quite the drama queen at times, but this was just going too far! "Um...Paul...it was just a dodgeball," I stated, shrugging, "I get hit in the face with balls all the time,"

That wiped the solemn look off his face, and instead it was replaced with a very cheeky smirk. At first, I didn't realise what I said, but once I did, I can guarantee that my face resembled a tomato. God. I was such a fail. I shouldn't even be allowed to talk. Ever.

Before Paul could say a word, I quickly tried to explain myself, "I didn't mean it like that! I just meant that Jared's hit me in the face with balls before," Paul's smirk grew even wider, and the amused glint in his eyes shone brighter. I wasn't making this any easier for myself, was I? "No! No! Ignore that! I just meant- Oh God," I covered my face with my hands, almost dying with embarrassment as Paul started to chuckle. Well, at least he wasn't cussing anymore, right?

"Y'know what? I'm just gonna go and...yeah...bye," I turned round quickly, trying to hurry away, only I still had my face covered with my hands, so I couldn't quite see, and pretty soon I had managed to stumble into a wall, almost knocking myself backwards. Thankfully, Paul was there to catch me, though the git was still laughing at me.

"You're the weirdest person I've ever met," He stated, setting me upright and ruffling my hair in a gruff manner whilst still chuckling. Yep. I had just been called weird by a guy who likes walking round naked in public. Awesome.

"Just go away," I whined, my cheeks burning even more as I headed towards the door to the nurses office, which thankfully, was just down the corridor. Unfortunately, Paul decided to follow me.

And he was still smirking.

* * *

Half an hour later, and still I was sitting in the nurse's office, and _still_ Paul was smirking. Yep. I almost had to refrain myself from pulling off my shoe and throwing it off his face. I don't think Paul would have liked that though, and nor would the nurse, who again was very grumpy. In fact, upon hearing how I'd been hit in the face with a dodgeball yet again, she'd actually rolled her eyes and groaned in exasperation, which had received a very annoyed look from Paul.

Thankfully though, after placing another ridiculously large band-aid on my nose, the nurse had left the room, claiming that she needed to call someone, and that Paul and I could just sit in her office until the final bell rang.

"Thank God," I muttered, once she had bustled out the room with that ever-present deep frown on her face, "No more dodgeball for me then," Paul merely smirked, before slowly getting out of his chair in the corner of the room. He began to make his way over to me, and unfortunately, he seemed to be in one of his annoying moods.

"So, I take it dodgeball isn't really your thing, huh?" He asked, chuckling to himself as he stood in front of where I was sitting, which was on the cold, hard counter that lined the walls of nurse's office. I couldn't help but wonder why he was teasing me. I mean, before he'd been uttering offensive profanities under his breath at the fact I'd been hit in the face with a dodgeball, and now, he was fine. It was quite hard for me to keep up with all the sudden mood changes, to be honest.

"Shut up," I muttered, rubbing my nose self-consciously, cursing the nurse for not finding a smaller band-aid, "Why are you even here, anyways? Shouldn't you go back?" I demanded, not caring how rude I sounded. The funniness of the situation had now worn off, and I was feeling annoyed at Paul and his annoyingness more than anything else.

Paul merely shrugged, and plonked himself on the counter beside me, scooting closer so that our arms where touching. He wasn't very big on personal space, was he? "I didn't really want to leave you with nurse bitchy," He nodded towards the door, and I couldn't help but worry in case she was actually standing right outside, listening in, "Besides, gym's boring. I always end up winning anyways, the other kids are all just a bunch of wimps," He snorted, and at this, I couldn't help but roll my eyes. Typical Paul.

"You're so modest, y'know," I stated, shaking my head, "And besides, I bet that not _everyone _in gym class is wimpy. I mean, look a Jared, he almost just broke my nose. How is that wimpy?"

Paul suddenly turned very solemn, and he turned to face me., his eyes boring into mine, "Don't worry, I'll get him back for that, the little punk," I bit my lip as he said this, refraining myself from telling him that Jared could hardly be classed as a 'little punk', I mean, the guy was _huge. _Just like Paul. Just like all the guys in the La Push gang.

"Stupid steroid users," I muttered, not quite realising that I'd actually muttered it out loud. However, unfortunately for me, Paul had noticed, and the solemn look was suddenly gone, and instead, replaced with an amused yet slightly puzzled look. It wasn't until I spotted his expression did I realise. "I said that out loud, didn't I?" I asked, cursing myself internally at how much of a fail I actually was. I mean, I'd never really noticed how much of an idiot I was until I'd moved to La Push. Sure, I'd done a lot of stupid things before I'd moved here, but now it seemed as though I acted constantly drunk or high. It was ridiculous how embarrassing and awkward I'd become.

In answer to my question, Paul nodded, the smirk reappearing, "Yes, you did," He said, his voice laced with amusement, "You do that a lot," God. Again, he was deciding to point out every painfully obvious thing about me. However, I didn't care, I was still scolding myself for not being able to hold my tongue.

"I really need to stop doing that,"

"Nah," Paul shrugged in an offhand manner, "It's cute...in a weird kind of creepy way," Oh my God...did Paul just call me cute? ...And weird and creepy? Y'know what, let's just forget about the latter two, and just focus on the cute part. Paul Lahote, the guy whose moods changed constantly, the guy who walked round in forests naked, had actually called me cute. Me. _Me! _The girl who usually can't even form one sentence without embarrassing herself. Oh my God! Please, excuse me while I pass out.

Anyhoo, despite screaming and partying for joy on the inside, I tried to remain cool and collected, and I coughed in what I hoped was a casual manner, "Yeah...well, you're quite...yeah..." I coughed again and looked away, my cheeks burning up as I cursed my awkwardness. Darn, why couldn't I just be cool and compliment him back? I could've complimented him on his muscles, or on how nice he'd been to accompany me to the nurse's office, or on his large- Ahem, no actually, the latter would just makes things even more uncomfortable.

"I'm quite what?" Paul asked his smirk turning into a grin as he stared at me with an amused glint in his eyes. He knew how awkward I felt, and he knew I'd been trying to compliment him, yet he still decided to tease me by purposely trying to make me feel even more awkward, the evil bugger. "I'm what?" He pressed.

"Ermmmmmmmmmmm," My mind seemed to suddenly go blank, as I stared back at him, still making that stupid hesitating noise. Should I compliment him? Should I? Yes, I should. But I couldn't, instead, I panicked, "Y'know, you really need to stop with all the teasing. I mean, seriously, you go round walking in forests naked thinking you can just go make awkward people feel even more awkward than they already are and creating awkward situations which makes them feel extremely awkward and-" He clamped his hand over my mouth, his grin growing wider.

"You're very awkward, aren't you?" Had he seriously just noticed? Really? _Really?_

I sighed in exasperation and pulled his hand off my mouth, noticing that yet again his skin was burning hot, "Yes, Paul, I am awkward, and you're making me be even more awkward, so bugger off before I shrivel up and die of awkwardness," It was true. I don't think I've ever felt so awkward in my life, and as Paul sighed and nodded, getting up off the counter and heading out the nurses office in a slightly dejected manner, I couldn't help but feel slightly frustrated at myself.

I'd always been an awkward bugger (just not this bad) but that's what usually ruined things for me. These awkward situations often led to me being too embarrassed to talk to some people, and I didn't want that to happen to Paul and me. I mean, sure, he wasn't exactly helping what with his naked little adventures and constant teasing, but I knew that soon enough something was going to happen between me and Paul, something that would probably embarrass me so much that I would be too humiliated to talk to him ever again, and I didn't want that to happen. Simply because I liked him.

I liked Paul.

Despite his annoyingness, I'd actually started to develop feelings for him, and I was worried. Worried that I would perhaps scare him away. I mean, sure' he'd called me cute, right? But he'd also called me weird. And creepy.

And that was when I decided, maybe it was about time I tried to start growing up?


	8. Stalked By Wolves

**(A/N) Annnd here is chapter 8! I thought I'd done more chapter than that but apparently not ;P I'm sorry for taking longer than usual to update, I've just been studying a little, and preparing for my taster days at college next week! Basically, I get to go to college for 3 days to try out some subjects and see what the lessons are going to be like, and I'm so excited! But I'm nervous cos I'm kinda shy so I doubt I'll be able to make friends very easily. I'll be too scared to talk to them ;3**

**Anyhoo, again, I had so much fun writing this chapter! Especially the ending! Oh, that reminds me, there's going to be a little bit of swearing in this so I apologize for that! I promise I won't make the swearing a regular thing, it was just for this chapter! ;3**

**As usual, thank you to everyone who followed and favourited, and thank you to _laurenloveswriting, booklover1598, Loula Lahote, Gringle Kirby, kriscrable, UnicornsLoveBananas97, Miz Kaitlyn, NobleAndAncientLineBlack, All-Smiles1234, Katelyn _and _MrsMaynard _for reviewing! Thank you guys so much! ;D**

**Also, if anyone wants to add me on Tumblr it's _one-does-not-simply-hiddle_ and if you want to follow me, I follow back ;) Also if anyone wants to talk to me then don't be afraid to send me a PM! ;3**

**Anyhoo, enjoy! And again, constructive criticism is appreciated! ;P**

**Oh, and also, thumbs up to whoever spots the Anchorman reference! And the That's So Raven reference! God, I miss that show! **

* * *

Chapter 8 – Stalked By Wolves

* * *

The weekend. Finally.

Everyone loves the weekend. Especially me. Why? Because it means no school. And no school means no socialising. And no socialising means no awkward Cora.

Speaking of awkward, ever since my little trip to the nurse's office two days ago, I'd actually managed to avoid any more awkward encounters. In fact, I'd been awkward free for the past two days, and I had to admit, I felt proud. Perhaps I was finally growing up? And perhaps, soon, I would be able to hold a successful conversation with Paul without embarrassing myself, or without him calling me weird or creepy.

As I sat in the kitchen, my head resting on the wooden surface of the table, wondering what a normal conversation with Paul would be like, there was a sudden knocking at the door. I froze, my eyes narrowing suspiciously. The last time someone had visited the house was when Paul had randomly decided to show up and take control of my TV (as well as attempting to take control of my food, which, of course, failed). What if it were him again? I couldn't let him see me, I hadn't managed to accomplish my plan on becoming mature yet, in fact, I hadn't really accomplished anything, I'd just somehow been successful in avoiding any awkward confrontations, though, to be honest, that itself sort of was an accomplishment. Sort of.

Anyhoo, after several seconds of complete silence, the door was knocked upon again, and finally, my mother seemed to realise that neither me nor Stevie-boo were about to the answer the door. Stevie-boo wouldn't answer because he was lazy and too busy watching the football, and _I _wasn't willing to answer the door because that would mean I would have to socialise, and we all know how disastrous that can be.

However, upon hearing my mother open the door, two familiar voices suddenly reached my ears. Allie and Gemma. What on earth were they doing here? Usually they only really bothered with me in school. They never really visited or talked to me once school was over, so why were they here?

"Cora," My mother called suddenly, and quickly I slipped out of the kitchen, and stood at the front door beside my mother, staring at both Allie and Gemma in a curious manner. They merely grinned at me.

"Hi, Cora! We were just wondering if you wanted to hang out with us today," Allie said, cutting right to the chase. To be honest, I was kind of curious when she said this. I mean, there wasn't really anything to do in La Push, other than go to the beach or walk around the forest. Nevertheless, I nodded, quickly pulling on a pair of high-tops that sat beside the door. "We're probably just gonna wander around a bit," Allie stated, directing this more to my mother, who currently was still stood beside me, staring at my two friends in a suspicious manner.

"You two...you're friends with Cora?" She asked, sounding extremely disbelieving. It was quite offensive, actually. It was as though she couldn't believe that I was capable of making friends without creeping them out.

"Yes, mother, they are my friends. I'm not that weird, y'know. People still want to be my friend," I said, rolling my eyes impatiently, ignoring my mother as she scoffed, crossing her arms over her chest with one eyebrow raised. "Anyhoo, good day, woman. If I don't return home it's probably because I've fallen over and died. Bye!" And with that, I quickly stepped out of the house, shutting the door firmly behind me before my mother could mock me anymore on my usual incapability on making friends. Allie and Gemma merely shrugged, before heading down the path, with me following quickly behind them.

"So, where are we going?" I asked, falling in step beside Gemma, who smiled mysteriously. God, they weren't going to go all secretive on me again, were they? If that were the case then I'd rather stay at home and eat food all day.

"It's a surprise." Gemma stated, in a hushed tone, her eyes flashing darkly. Upon catching my slightly nervous look, she smiled reassuringly, throwing her long hair over her shoulder, "But don't worry, it's a nice one. I promise,"

Well, she seemed in a rather good mood, however, as I studied her curiously, racking my brains for any clues on what we were about to do today, I noticed that she looked a little different. Something seemed to have changed, but as I continued to stare at her, I found that I couldn't quite put my finger on what it was. Meh, maybe she'd done something different with her hair or put on weight or something. Who knows?

"Oh, by the way, Cora, do you remember that guy you were talking to the other day? Y'know, Logan's friend? Steve?" Allie suddenly said, as we emerged onto the main dirt-path which ran through most of La Push. I nodded, frowning slightly. Why did they want to know that?

"Well," Gemma started, throwing another secretive glance at Allie before continuing, "We were thinking that _we _could set you two up," Me? And Steve? The guy who had the same name as my mother's boyfriend? Really?

"Oh, by the beard of Zeus, no!" I shook my head quickly, my eyes widening, "Nope. No. _Nooo_ way!" There was no _way _I would ever go out with someone who had the same name as my mother's boyfriend. Especially since I would most likely end up going round calling him 'Stevie-boo' all the time. It was just unacceptable.

"Aw, why not?" Allie asked, looking slightly put out. Why did they want to set me up with this guy, anyways? I'd only ever spoken to him once. I mean, sure, he'd called me funny, but that didn't mean that was an invitation for Allie and Gemma to then try set us up! Besides, who in their right minds would like me? A crazy person, that's who! I mean, I'm annoying, I'm over-dramatic, I can't hold a conversation with embarrassing myself, and to be honest, I'm not doing too great in the looks department either. I mean, fair enough if I had a good personality (after all, looks aren't everything) but I didn't. I was downright annoying, though, I hoped that I wasn't as annoying as Paul. Speaking of Paul, I had a crush on _him, _not _Steve. _

"Because, he's just not really my type," I shrugged, and before I could stop myself, I added more to my excuse, "And besides, I like someone else," Gemma and Allie turned to look at me, they're eyes lighting up mischievously as we stopped walking in the middle of a clearing. I hadn't realised up until now that I was panting heavily, which was probably due to the fact that we were currently walking uphill.

"Who!?" Gemma demanded excitedly, grabbing me by the shoulders. Her grip was surprisingly strong. Was she gaining more muscle or something?

I sighed heavily, debating on whether I should tell them or not. I mean, there was no harm in telling them, right? Sure, they seemed to hate Paul and his friends, but it wouldn't really affect them if I liked Paul or not. Besides, it wasn't as though he liked me back or anything.

I bit my lip, before deciding to tell them, "Paul," My voice came out small as I glanced between the two of them, their faces becoming blank. They weren't going to freak out and explode or anything, right? I mean, it's not my fault I like him. He just had this weirdly charming...erm...charm about him, that sort of made up for his annoyingness. Gemma and Allie, however, seemed to disagree.

"Paul!?" Gemma's grip on my shoulders became tighter, as she studied my face hard, her eyes darkening, "Paul Lahote!? Are you being serious!?" To be honest, I didn't see why she was so angry. I mean, it was my crush, not hers. It had no affect on her what so ever. None.

Thankfully, Allie seemed to be a little calmer about this news, though I could see the look of distaste on her face which clearly told me she thought I was crazy for liking Paul, and maybe I was. I mean, seriously, who on earth falls for a boy who likes to hike through the forest naked? _That _could possibly be a little bit of a turn-off for some people.

"C'mon, let's keep going," Allie muttered, continuing to head up the hill, a rather dark look on her face. The mood had definitely been dampened, and as Gemma threw me a rather annoyed look before following after Allie, I couldn't help but wish I'd kept my mouth shut. Maybe they had some sort of massive feud with Paul and his friends? Maybe that's why they weren't happy about this? Whatever it was, it must've been bad, "Hurry up, Cora!" Allie called, realising that I was still stood on the same spot.

Sighing heavily I hurried after them as fast as I could, which, let me tell you, was not fast at all, considering we were going uphill. My mood had decreased rapidly since revealing my crush to them, and I couldn't help but wish that I was back at home, tucked up in bed with some nice food. Preferably a block of cheese. _Cheese _wouldn't get angry at me for liking Paul, oh no. _Cheese _would understand, not like Gemma and Allie.

Anyhoo, enough about cheese.

After what seemed like an endless trek, Allie and Gemma finally stopped in a large clearing that sat on top of a cliff, which hung precariously over the cold grey sea. They weren't going to attempt to throw me off the edge now where they? I mean, they may have hated Paul, but killing me was going a bit too far, right?

As the two slowly turned round to face me, both with dark looks upon their faces, I sank down onto my knees, a small whine escaping my lips as I stared up at them both. "Please don't kill me," I felt completely helpless, "There's so much stuff I haven't experienced in my life yet,"

Now, instead of laughing like maniacs or going on one of those crazy rants that the villains in movies always did right before they either got caught or killed someone, Allie and Gemma both froze, a look of pure puzzlement crossing both of their faces. Allie was the first one to speak.

"Uh...what?"

It was my turn to freeze now, and I eyed them both in a confused manner, "Well, you're going to kill me now, right? That's why you brought me up here...right?" Allie laughed, and Gemma even managed a small amused smile, as she shook her head.

"No, silly," She stated, walking over and pulling me back to my feet, "We're brought you here for cliff-diving! Honestly! Why would you think we would try kill you? We're your friends," I froze, trying to come up with a believable excuse.

In the end, I failed. "Because I like Paul..." I said truthfully, my voice very small and barely even audible. Gemma merely shook her head, while Allie raised her eyebrows. People shake their heads at me a lot, don't they? Maybe they just think I'm weird, and so need a good head-shaking every once in a while. Or maybe they just think I'm an idiot. Yeah, that'll be it.

"God, Cora," Allie sighed, throwing in a face-palm just to show how stupid she thought I was. "Y'know what, let's just forget this even happened. Let's just get on with the cliff-diving, right?" That sounded like a good idea. Well, the forgetting-about-what-just-happened part did, but not so much the cliff-diving part. Was cliff-diving even _safe? _

Apparently the people of La Push thought so, but then again, most (if not _all) _of the inhabitants of La Push were a little bit on the wacky side.

"Cora gets to go first!" Allie exclaimed suddenly, a large grin on her face. Well, they'd certainly cheered up, hadn't they? Wait-what!? Did she just say _I _had to go first? _Me!? _"It'll be fine, y'know, Cora. As long as you can swim," Allie said, sensing that I was nervous. She was trying to be reassuring, but it didn't really work. I mean, I could swim, but what if I banged my head off a rock when jumping off, resulting in me forgetting how to swim which would lead to me drowning? I wasn't ready to die yet!

"Don't be scared, Cora," Gemma piped up, standing beside me now, "We've done it plenty of times. It's fine. I mean, what's the worst that could happen?"

"I could die?"

Gemma nodded, "Exactly," she patted me on the back, before lightly shoving me forward, "You'll be perfectly fine, trust me! We'll be jumping in straight after you!"

"Yeah," Allie nodded, "And besides, do you really think we'd let you drown or something? Of course we wouldn't! Now go," Well, they did have a good point. I'd seen and heard of plenty of people going cliff-diving here, and they were all fine. I mean, sure, I'm probably a bit stupider and a bit more clumsier than all those people, but that didn't mean I was going to die whilst attempting to cliff-dive, right?

_Right. _

Taking a deep breath, I shakily walked over to the edge of the cliff. I'd never really been one for heights. Nor had I ever really been one for jumping off cliffs, but then again, who was? Well, other than the strangeand clearly not normal people of La Push.

"Okay," I declared, staring determinedly at the crashing waves below. I was going to do this! "Here I go!" I closed my eyes tightly, getting ready to leap off, only I couldn't do it. Instead, I was stuck on the spot with my eyes squeezed shut, looking like a gormless git.

"Um...Cora?" I heard Gemma's voice say from somewhere behind me. "You...er...you haven't moved,"

To right I hadn't! I was too scared to jump, so not only was I a complete and utter doofus, I was also a wimp, however, I wasn't about to let Allie and Gemma know about this.

"I haven't?" I asked, pretending to be surprised and still keeping my eyes firmly shut. I was actually starting to feel a bit sick, and opening my eyes would probably only cause more nausea. It seemed I was more scared of heights than I'd initially thought.

"C'mon, Cora, there's nothing to be afraid about," Allie reassured, now appearing beside me. She had a light smile on her face, and her hand was resting on my shoulder. "Look, we'll be jumping straight after you. We won't let anything happen to you. We promise. Right, Gemma?" I kept my eyes firmly shut, though I was starting to ease up a little. She did have a point.

"Right," Gemma said, also stepping beside me. I felt someone place a hand on my back, "Now go!" And with that, I felt myself being pushed forward, and suddenly, I was falling.

A piercing scream escaped from my mouth as I hurtled towards the menacing waves below, my eyes still squeezed tightly shut. Adrenaline pumped through my veins, and I found myself just waiting for the moment when my body would make contact with the waves. Something was bound to go wrong. It was me. Something _always _went wrong with me. It was natural.

Down.

Down.

_Down_ I plummeted, until suddenly, my body crashed down onto the surface of the sea, where immediately, my body was engulfed by the grey waves, and I surrounded by coldness.

Well. That wasn't so bad, right?

As I swam back up again, gasping for breath as I emerged from the water, I grinned widely. I was _definitely _up for doing that again. I mean, despite it being sort of dangerous, now that I'd experienced it first-hand, I could see why the people of La Push enjoyed it. It was quite fun, if a little scary.

However, my happiness soon turned to confusion as I looked up and saw Allie and Gemma still standing on the cliff. They looked kind of worried, and I couldn't help but wonder what they were doing. I thought they said they were going to jump straight after? Why hadn't they jumped? And why did they look so worried?

"You fucking idiot!"

What?

Turning round, I spotted Paul making his way through the water over to me, and judging by the look on his face, he was _not _happy. I couldn't help but wonder what I'd did. I mean, I was assuming that what he'd just said was aimed at me.

"You stupid fucking idiot!" He snarled, grabbing my wrist rather tightly before turning round and pulling me back to shore. Okay, I admit, I was very confused, "You asshole!" Okay, the insults were getting steadily worse, however, I didn't care at that point. I was too busy glaring over my shoulder at my supposed friends, who were still standing on the cliff, staring after us. Why weren't they doing anything? I was currently getting dragged about by a very angry Paul and they weren't doing anything!

"What the hell were you thinking!?" Paul yelled, once we reached shore. I merely tore my wrist from his grip, and took to massaging it whilst glaring at him angrily. My wrist was bound to start bruising soon. "You're an idiot! Why would you do that!?" Paul demanded, and I assumed he was talking about the cliff-diving.

I shrugged in response, "I was only having a bit of fun with some friends," I replied, feeling slightly nervous as Paul started to shake angrily. God, he was overreacting a bit, wasn't he? I was perfectly fine. Besides, I bet he'd been cliff-diving plenty of times, after all, the La Push gang had, and he was part of them.

"Fun!? You could have fucking died!"

I frowned, "Stop swearing!" God, I hated it when people swore. I mean, I'm not too bothered when people say 'shit' and stuff like that, but I absolutely _detested _the word 'fuck' or 'fucking' or whatever. My answer, however, only seemed to anger Paul even more, and so I took it upon myself to try reason with him. "Besides, it's not that dangerous. I've seen your friends do it before," This only made him even angrier.

"So!? That doesn't mean you have to go jump off a fucking cliff! You could have got hurt! You could have fucking _died!_" He took a deep breath, seemingly trying to calm himself down, "You, Cora, are probably the stupidest person I have ever met," Ouch. That one kind of hurt. I mean, sure I was stupid at times, but I wasn't _that _stupid. Only a bit simple. However, at this point I was actually starting to get pretty annoyed. I may have been stupid, but at least I wasn't annoying! Well, actually I was, but not as annoying as Paul. And not as mean as him either. The lil' nasty!

"Fine," I crossed my arms over my chest. I can't believe I'd actually had a crush on this guy! I mean, I still did, but I wasn't about to admit that! Nope. From now on I was going to ignore any feelings I had for this boy. In fact, I was going to ignore him completely. How could he be so mean and hypocritical? "If I'm so stupid, I'll just go then! Wouldn't want to lower your IQ or anything," I snapped, dismissing the fact that I'd actually just insulted myself further, and instead, turned round and marched off determinedly, ignoring the loud, aggravated groan that came from Paul. I was too angry to care about him right now. I just needed to get home.

* * *

I was being watched.

I was being watched and I didn't like it.

Who was watching me? I had no idea. In fact, I didn't really have any proof at all that I was being watched, I just had an awful feeling. It sent a shiver down my spine, and the hairs on the back of my neck prickled. Whoever it was, they weren't exactly being quiet. I could hear twigs snapping amongst the trees as I made my way towards my house, my clothes still dripping wet from the cliff-diving.

I had no idea what I was going to tell my mother. I mean, she was bound to notice my soaking wet clothes and hair once I arrived back home, and I knew I couldn't tell her about the cliff-diving. If I did, she would most likely go on one of her 'you're turning into a hoodlum' rants, and I wasn't in the mood for one of those. Not that I ever _was _in the mood for one of her rants. They tended to go on for ages, and despite the fact that I basically had no life, I didn't really have time to listen to her rant about how I was a hoodlum and how soon I'd be running round beating people up with a stick. Ha. As if I could ever beat someone up with a stick! I'd probably end up just hitting myself in the face or falling over!

Anyhoo, as I was saying, I really wasn't in the mood for one of her rants. Especially not after being called a mass amount of names from Paul. I was far too annoyed, and hurt. Kind of. I mean, it's not nice being called hurtful names by the person you're crushing on, or by anyone really.

However, the hurt was soon replaced by panic as I heard a loud rustling noise coming from my right. God. Paul wasn't going to walk out of some bushes naked again, was he?

Turning round with an expectant look on my face (don't ask me why I turned around, please, you should all know how stupid I am by now) I was extremely shocked to see that it wasn't naked Paul emerging from the bushes. No. It was much more terrifying than that (not that Paul being naked was terrifying, it was more embarrassing than anything else). In fact, what came out of the bushes almost made me wish that it _was_ naked Paul standing in front of me.

Instead, however, it was a wolf. A very big and terrifying wolf. Only this one was different from the one I'd seen last time. This one was noticeably smaller (though still very big) and its fur, which was a sleek, shiny black, was much longer than the other wolfs had been. Its eyes, however, were extremely familiar, though, to be honest, I wasn't too concerned with its eyes. I was more concerned with turning round and sprinting off towards my house, a loud scream exploding from my mouth.

I didn't bother looking back to see if it was following me, I was too focused on getting home, and fortunately, that's what I managed to do, and thankfully in one piece too!

"Cora! What on earth's the matter with you!?" My mother demanded, coming out of the living room upon hearing the front door slam shut (that and I was still screaming). "Why are you all wet? And stop screaming! You'll wake Steve!" Oh my God, really? How could he sleep at a time like this!?

"Enough about bloody Stevie-Boo!" I screeched, ignoring her question and pressing my back against the front door, my eyes open so wide that they were actually starting to water painfully, "We're all going to die!"

Mum merely rolled her eyes, "Here we go again," And with that, she made her way back into the kitchen, leaving me to just scream after her.

"You won't be saying that once we all die, woman! I'm telling you! We're doomed! _DOOMED! _I almost _died, _and you're just walking away from me! A wolf almost effing _ate _me, and you're just walking away like it's nothing!" I yelled, aware of the fact that I probably sounded like a raving lunatic, "YOU WON'T BE WALKING AWAY ONCE THEY COME FOR US! NO ONE WILL! YOU WANT TO KNOW WHY! BECAUSE WE'LL BE DEAD! _DEAD!" _And with that, I flung myself from the front door, stomping up the stairs as loud as I could. She wasn't going to believe me. She was convinced that I was just some bratty teenager who was over-reacting. Well, I wasn't! I mean, okay, maybe I was being a little dramatic, but I was scared! I mean, I was practically being stalked by wolves! _Wolves! _

"I'm _never _leaving this house again!" I yelled, stomping into my room and starting to take off my wet clothes, throwing them about my room, "I'm serious! I'm never leaving ever again! I'm being stalked, woman! By wolves! I refuse to put myself in danger! There's no way I'm leaving this house! No way! If school call just tell them I've died or something! Other than that, don't bother me! Goodbye forever!" I finished, slamming my door shut, frowning as I heard my mother chuckling downstairs.

God, why was I being stalked by wolves? What had I ever done to them?


	9. Some Major Stink Eye

**(A/N) Okay, so I managed to finish this chapter quite quickly, which is kinda surprising. But the next chapter might take a while (only about a week though) cos I have some go to college on Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday for my practice sessions so I might not have as much time. But yeah, I dunno, it depends really, I might be able to update in less than a week, hopefully ;P **

**Anyhoo, I reckon some of you might be able to guess what Gemma and Allie's big secret is in this chapter. I decided to give you guys a few more hints ;P And also, I had a few people asking if the black wolf in the last chapter was Sam, but it wasn't ;)))**

**So, as usual, thank you to everyone who has followed or favourited, and thank you to _wood-morning, kriscrable, d112hpfan, booklover1598, All-Smiles1234, UnicornsLoveBananas97, Lavynya, Lalina92, IKiraLoveVamps4Ever, Icecubefrozen, MrsMaynard _and _RougeReaper _for reviewing! Thank you guys so, so, so much, I really appreciate it! ;3**

**Anyways, I hope you enjoy this chapter, and constructive criticism and reviews are appreciated ;P**

* * *

Chapter 9 – Some Major Stink Eye

* * *

After my little (I use the word 'little' very loosely here) moment of hysteria last night, I had decided to stick to my plan of never going outside ever again. And it was because of this, that I found myself nicely tucked up in bed all warm and cosy, despite it being around one in the afternoon.

Yep. I had made a vow to myself not to put myself in danger, and since it seemed I was being stalked by wolves, it was only natural that I decided it would be much more safer to stay cooped up indoors for the rest of my life. I mean, sure, it probably wasn't the most healthy thing to do, but who needs sun or fresh air? At least I wasn't outside getting eaten alive by overly large wolves that clearly, like the La Push gang, were on steroids. Or maybe it's just La Push? Maybe everything in La Push is just unnaturally large?

Meh. Who knows.

"Cora?" Damn. It was my mother. What did she want this time? Why was she bothering me? Hadn't I told her last night not to bother me ever again? And then hadn't she laughed at me, despite my warnings about how we were all doomed due to those darn wolves? Okay, I admit. I was sort of mad at her for not believing me, however, as she called through the door again, I knew I was going to have to face her, "Cora? Can I come in, honey?"

"If you must," I replied, my voice sounding muffled due to the fact I currently had my face buried into my pillow. She still heard me, though, I don't really know how. She must have brilliant hearing. Way better than mine, anyways.

Anyhoo, upon hearing my reply, my mother opened the door in a rather cautious manner. Maybe, after hearing my ranting and raving last night, she thought I was some lunatic and that I was going to pounce on her as soon as she opened the door?

"Cora, honey," She smiled at me softly, whilst I merely glared up at her grumpily, "About last night, I listened to what you said, and I phoned up the police department," Okay, I admit, that made me smile a little. At least she was finally listening to me. Perhaps there was hope after all? Though, to be honest, I doubt the police would be able to do much about the wolves. Unless, of course, they had a secret stash of rocket launchers hidden away. Other than that, they had no chance against the wolves. We were still doomed. Nevertheless, I was curious as to what the police were planning on doing.

"Well, it turns out you're not the only one to have seen these wolves," Yes! So that had to mean I wasn't the only one being stalked, right? "And apparently some guy, Charlie Swan I think his name was, is looking into it with a couple of others. Apparently they're trying to hunt them or something, I don't know," Mum finished, before shrugging. Well, at least something was getting done about these wolves, though I doubted Charlie Swan was going to be very successful. Nevertheless, I was sort of grateful, and definitely relieved that I wasn't the only one who'd spotted these wolves.

"Now, I need you to go out and-" Before mum could even _think _about finishing her sentence, I'd interrupted her. Quite loudly too, I might add.

"NO!" I immediately declared, sitting up straight in my bed, my eyes widening. Clearly _someone _hadn't listened to what I'd been saying last night. Hadn't I said I was never going outside again? There was no way I was going outside and risking my life. At least not until this Charlie Swan bloke had sorted everything out, and to be honest, that wasn't very likely. "No way am I going outside! I said, last night, that I wasn't going outside ever again and I meant it!" And with that, I crossed my arms over my chest, indicating that the conversation was over. There was no way my mother was going to convince me to change my mind. If she wanted something, then _she _could go get it.

"Cora," Mum said, her voice dangerously low as she gave me a pointed look that clearly told me that if I didn't get my lazy bottom out of bed there were going to be some serious consequences. "Stop being silly now. All I'm asking is for you to walk down to Forks and pick something up for me," Walk down to Forks!? Walk down to Forks!? Was she _mad!? _I couldn't walk down to Forks! For one, there was still a mass amount of wolves on the loose. That and I was far too lazy to trek _all _the way down to Forks.

"No way! I'll die walking that far!" I protested, flopping back down onto the bed, glaring grumpily up at the ceiling, "Anyways, why can't you do it?"

Mum sighed, as though I was being difficult or something. I mean, sure, maybe I was being a bit unreasonable, but she should know by now how lazy I am. If she thought I was willing to walk all the way to Forks then she was mad! "Cora, please. I need to help your Grandma with something. I haven't got time to go to Forks. And besides, the exercise will do you good," I immediately sat up again upon hearing her final words.

"Are you saying I'm fat!?"

Immediately she shook her head, "No! Of course not! I'm just saying you're lazy. Now come on," She pulled the blanket off me. God, it was bloody freezing! "Cora! Get up! Just do me this one favour, please?" Oh, I see what she was doing. She was only saying please to try and make me feel guilty, but it wasn't working! No, sir, not today!

"Mum," I glared at her in an exasperated manner, "I'm not going and that is final!"

* * *

Okay, so maybe it wasn't final.

After endless begging, shouting and grovelling from my mother, I had finally caved in and decided to head down to Forks to pick up a bunch of stinking vegetables from a colleague of hers. Yep. Vegetables. I don't know why she bothers, it's not as if anyone in the house even eats vegetables. Other than her. And maybe Stevie-Boo.

Anyhoo, before leaving the house, I had briefly contemplated on taking one of the large kitchen knives with me. I mean, there were wolves running amok around La Push. It wasn't really safe to venture outside, right? Especially since the wolves seemed to love stalking me around. However, I soon decided against it. It would look rather odd if someone was to see me just casually carrying a knife around. That, and if I even _was _to be attacked by one of the wolves, I would probably end up stabbing myself instead of stabbing the wolf. I wasn't the most coordinated person in the world. In fact, I was probably the complete opposite.

And so, as I ventured out the house completely unarmed, it was only natural that I actually felt quite nervous. I mean, for all I know, there could have been a wolf just lurking in the trees, just a mere few meters away, getting ready to ambush me. However, the thought of being attacked soon vanished from my head as I spotted a familiar figure walking up the path towards me.

Paul.

Oh, _joy. _

He actually looked pleased to see me, though I don't know why. Only yesterday he'd been having a go at me for going cliff-diving (something he and his friends seemed to do often) and he'd seemed to have taken a great delight in emphasising how stupid he thought I was. The bloody git.

I was actually planning on icily brushing past him and completely ignoring his existence, but this, however, was ruined by the fact that my legs seemed to be frozen on the spot. I should have been walking, not gormlessly waiting for him to approach me. I wasn't moving. _Why wasn't I moving, dammit!? _

"Hey," Paul greeted, finally coming to a stop in front of me, "You off somewhere?" Oh my God. How could he act so casual? Did he not remember what had happened yesterday? Did he not remember calling me an idiot and stupid, as well as a bunch of other profanities' which I will not repeat? Hmm?

Instead of asking him this, I merely decided to answer his question, "Yeah, I'm just off to pick some stuff up for my mum," Why was I answering him so politely? Why wasn't I screaming at him? Why wasn't I demanding an apology? Better yet, why wasn't _he _on his hands and knees begging for my forgiveness? _Why?_

"Cool. Mind if I come along?"

What?

Okay, this had gone far enough. He couldn't just go on acting as though nothing had happened yesterday. It wasn't right. I at least deserved some sort of apology, right? Not that I would forgive him or anything, I was still very angry with him. It would take a few hours of him constantly apologizing to me to finally get over it. Maybe even less, though, if his apology was especially good.

"Why would you want to do that? I thought you said I was stupid?"

Paul merely shrugged, a sly grin appearing on his face, "Don't worry, you won't lower my IQ," He said. Yep, he was mocking me. I'd said that to him yesterday. Or something along those lines, at least. And now, he had the cheek to mock me. He shouldn't have been mocking me! He should have been saying sorry! He should have been offering himself to be my slave for a week! He should have been crying! And yet, he wasn't. Oh, no. Instead, he was smirking. And despite all this, I still liked him, though, I was incredibly mad at him too. The git.

"Paul, shut up," I said, before brushing past him, frowning as I realised that it was now starting to rain. Great, just great. I was going to have to trail all the way to Forks in the bloody rain. Paul didn't seem too happy now either, so at least I wasn't the only one in a bad mood, right?

"Aw, fucking hell Cor-"

"Stop bloody swearing!" I snapped as I stopped and turned back around. It was seriously starting to annoy me now, "Say fudging or something, okay?"

"_Fine,_" Paul snapped, his smirk now long gone. "_Fudging _hell, Cora! There! Happy?" He didn't bother waiting for an answer, and instead, he continued his little rant or whatever you want to call it.

"You should be grateful that I was even there yesterday! Do you know how stupid you were being? Going cliff-diving with them two punks? You really think they'd help you if you'd hit your head or something? You're an idiot, Cora," And here comes the insults, "I was trying to help-"

"Well, you could have been a bit more nicer about it,"

"Cora, shut up and listen!" Paul shouted suddenly, his whole body starting to shake. I admit, he startled me there a bit. I mean, I'm pretty sure the people all the way in Japan probably could've heard him shout. It was that loud, "I know I was a bit harsh yesterday, and maybe I shouldn't have said all that stuff, but honestly, what you did yesterday was probably the stupidest thing you've ever done," Okay, that was going a bit over the top. How was cliff-diving that stupid, anyways? Everyone did it. Even him.

"What, so you can go cliff-diving, but I can't?"

Paul merely sighed and ran a hand through his hair in an aggravated manner. Clearly I was not helping the situation, "That's different. I can't get hurt by it. You can. Especially with them two. You shouldn't trust them," Okay, he seriously had to be on drugs or something. How could cliff-diving hurt me, but not him? He wasn't superman or anything like that. He was just some annoying git who was oddly quite charming. Nothing more. At least, I didn't think he was, anyways. And what was he on about? Why couldn't I trust Allie and Gemma? I mean, sure, they'd ditched me, but...okay, actually, maybe I couldn't trust them, but still. What did he know that I didn't?

"Look," Paul groaned, seemingly bored of the topic now, and he spoke with a note of finality, "Just, promise you won't be stupid and go cliff-diving, right? It's not safe, especially for you. I mean, no offense, but you aren't exactly graceful," I couldn't help but snort at that, ignoring the fact that I sounded a lot like a pig. He did have a point. Maybe he had just been worried about me? I mean, in a way, he was sort of right about Allie and Gemma, after all, they had ditched me and left me in the hands of an angry Paul.

Sighing, I nodded in response, a small smile on my face. "Fine, I promise,"

Paul seemed happy with my response, and I noted that the mood turned noticeably more pleasant, "So, where you headed?" He asked, changing the subject almost immediately.

"Just going to pick some stuff up from Forks for my mum," And just like that, the mood rapidly decreased again. Yep. I was great at saying the wrong thing, wasn't I? Though, to be honest, I didn't see how going to Forks was bad. Paul, however, seemed reluctant on letting me go.

"You can't go there," He said, his voice now dangerously low, "It's not safe," Oh, really? Yes, I wasn't the most coordinated person ever, but I failed to see how me travelling to Forks and back was deemed unsafe. Other than the wolves, of course, but Paul didn't know that. At least, I didn't think he did anyways.

"If it's about those wolves," I started, noticing how Paul's body tensed almost immediately after hearing me say 'wolves', "I'll be fine. I mean, sure we're all probably doomed and we'll all end up getting eaten by them, but I'll be fine. Besides, some bloke, Charlie Swoon or whatever his name is, is looking into it," Paul merely tensed up even more, and his eyes flashed in a dark manner. God, what had I said now? It seemed I couldn't even hold a simple conversation without offending someone or dampening their mood or something. Clearly I was hopeless. In fact, clearly I was not destined to have friends. Maybe I should stay cooped up in my room for the rest of my life? At least then I wouldn't be in danger of getting attacked by a bunch of rabid wolves.

"The wolves are fine, Cora," Paul said, after a small pause. What the hell was he on about? "They're harmless. It's not them you need to be worried about," Okay, this was getting slightly creepy. Was he threatening me or something? I couldn't really tell.

"You can't go to Forks. I can't protect you there. You need to stay here," He continued, his voice becoming very commanding now. But I couldn't just stay here. My mother had asked me to do her this one favour, and despite the fact I wasn't too fond of having to trail all the way down to Forks, I knew I had to. And Paul knew I had to. Nevertheless, he began shaking with anger again.

"Fine, I can see you're not going to listen. Just don't blame me if you end up dead," And with that, he turned round and hurried into the forest, leaving me to just stare after him in a confused manner. What did he mean by that? I thought he'd said the wolves where harmless? Did that mean there was something else that was potentially dangerous? What was his problem with Forks? And what did he mean, he couldn't protect me there? What was wrong with Forks? Better yet, why did he feel the need to protect me?

* * *

"Oi, Cora!"

Yep, there was the voice of one of my supposed 'friends'. Allie.

It was now Monday morning, and as I trailed through the busy parking lot moodily, I found that I was still very much mad at her and Gemma for ditching me. Only, as I turned round, I saw that Gemma was not actually with Allie for once. In fact, Allie was very much alone.

"What?" I grumbled, as she caught up with me. For some reason, she was smiling, though the smile faltered a little upon hearing my grumpy tone.

"What's wrong with you?"

"What's wrong with me? Oh, I don't know," I laughed dryly, as I continued stomp through the parking lot, heading towards the main entrance, with Allie right by my side. "Maybe it's the fact that my two 'friends' ditched me on Saturday, and left me in the hands of a very angry guy who likes to walk around naked! Or maybe it's because said naked guy seems to be a hormonal git and is very annoying, yet for some reason I _still_ seem like him! Or _maybe _it's because blondie over there is giving me stink eye, and I have an itch on my back that I can't reach!" It was true, my back was currently itching like mad, and good old Amber was standing by the main entrance of the school, glaring at me as though I were some disgusting..._thing. _God, I don't know why she hated me so much. I mean, it wasn't my fault that I've spoken to Paul before, and, to be fair, it wasn't as if any of those conversations had been successful. They had either ended with me embarrassing myself beyond belief, or Paul running off into the forest after getting angry. Nope. They were definitely _not _successful conversations at all.

At. All.

Anyhoo, after my little rant, Allie seemed to be unsure of what to say. Well, there wasn't much she could say, really. She and Gemma had ditched me, proving that they weren't really true friends. The least they could've done was save from the angry grasp of Paul, right?

"Look, Cora, I'm sorry, it's just," Allie took a deep breath, before falling silent. It seemed as though she wanted to tell me something, but couldn't. I needed to know, though. I needed to know _why _my 'friends' had just abandoned me, and left with me Paul. After all, they'd warned me away from him on many occasions, telling me he was dangerous, and when I'd revealed to them that I had a crush on him, they'd freaked out. Clearly, something was up. Something big. Perhaps something even a little bit dangerous, but what?

"Allie, please just tell me," I said, my tone now becoming a lot less grumpy. "I'm tired of you and Gemma being all secretive. Please, just tell me? I'm not going to tell anyone," Allie shook her head.

"I can't," She muttered, looking rather put out, "I can't. Look, please don't take offence to this, but this secret, it's huge. And you...you will end up telling someone. You'll tell _him. _It's inevitable, really. You're his...you're...the bond..._God_, this is so difficult," She ran a hand through her hair in a frustrated manner. This was the first time I'd seen her worked up like this. She always seemed so calm and laid-back, yet clearly, something was getting to her. I almost felt bad for being mad at her for ditching me.

"Y'know what, it's fine," I smiled faintly, despite my grim mood. I felt disappointed, but for once, I sort of understood. I would find out in time. Whatever this big secret was, it clearly involved me, I just hoped it wasn't something bad. However, I knew that I would most likely find out in time.

Allie smiled gratefully, muttering a small, "Thank you," before hurrying off. Clearly she needed time to calm down and sort her mind out, and I respected that.

"Oi, Cora!"

Oh, God, not more déjà vu.

I turned around, half expecting to see Allie again. Thankfully, however, it was not. Instead, it was Gemma's boyfriend, Logan, and he looked pretty worried. God, why did everyone seem to be in such a bad mood today? They were all either worried, worked up, or (in my case) just plain grumpy. What was happening to the world!?

"Have you seen Allie?" He asked, upon reaching me, "I need to talk to her, Gemma's not coming in today. Apparently she has a fever or something," Gemma had a fever? Poor thing.

"She just went into the school like a minute ago," I replied, looking towards the gates of the parking lot. Right at that moment, in through the gates sauntered Paul, with a boy, whom I recognised as Embry, walking beside him. I still hadn't forgotten my little run in with him yesterday (Paul that is, not Embry). It seemed that he and I would never be able to get along properly, what with him constantly blowing up about random stuff and me apparently being an idiot. It made me wonder why I even had a crush on the guy. I mean, clearly the two of us were the complete opposite of each other (other than the fact we were both extremely annoying).

As Paul started to head over in mine and Logan's direction (we were standing a few meters away from the main entrance, so obviously Paul was going to have to walk past us to actually get into the school) I could feel myself growing slightly nervous. Especially when I noticed that Paul was looking right at me, though, for some reason, he was glaring. Was he mad about yesterday too? I couldn't help but wonder why. I mean, it should've been me who was angry, and yet, I wasn't. Instead, I was more concerned about Allie, and how agitated she'd seemed before. And about Gemma, who apparently had a fever. Despite them ditching me, I still counted them as friends. And judging by Allie's reaction upon asking her why she and Gemma had ditched me, well, I could see there was a valid reason. She'd seemed so worked up about it.

Still standing frozen on the spot, I found that my eyes seemed to be currently _glued _to Paul. I literally couldn't take my eyes off of him, and he was coming closer and closer to where Logan and I stood. In fact, I was so focused on the fact that Paul looked like he literally wanted to rip my head off, that I barely registered Logan uttering his goodbyes before hurrying off to find Allie. I was just too distracted.

However, as Paul finally did reach the spot where I stood, he merely walked on by. He was still glaring at me. His friend, Embry, however, was not, which I was pretty thankful for. If they'd both been glaring at me then that would have only resulted in me most likely running away, ranting about young hoodlums glaring a people. No, instead of glaring, Embry merely shrugged upon passing me, showing that he had no idea what was going on. Neither did I, to be honest.

Rolling my eyes grumpily, I decided that it was about time I started heading to class.

Whatever was going on in La Push, it seemed big. And it involved me. All I could do now was hope and pray that it wasn't something dangerous.

* * *

**(A/N) If anyone wants to follow me, my tumblr is _one-does-not-simply-hiddle _and I follow back ;P**


	10. I Wish I Was A Fish

**(A/N) Okay, this update took a little longer than expected! I'm so sorry! It's been almost two weeks since I last updated. I feel so guilty D; But here's chapter 10. No one's guessed what's up with Allie and Gemma yet so I added another hint in this chapter ;P I'm actually kinda pleased no one's guessed yet, but I reckon someone will figure it out soon ;P**

**Anyhoo, thank you to _All-Smiles1234, booklover1598, UnicornsLoveBananas97, RougeReaper, Lalina92, NobleAndAncientLineBlack _and to the guest who reviewed! I really appreciate it! Thank you so much! And I now have 100 reviews, which I'm really pleased about, so thank you, thank you, thank yoooouuu! 3 ;P **

**Also, thank you to everyone who faved/followed! I appreciate it ;)))**

**Anyhoo, enjoy, please review, constructive criticism is greatly appreciated, and if there are any mistakes please let me know! ;3**

* * *

Chapter 10 – I Wish I Was A Fish

* * *

It had been a long day, to be quite honest. And a confusing one at that, too, what with Allie being all secretive and Paul giving me plenty of stink eye. It was enough to almost drive me mad. Or at least enough to almost drive me madder than I already was, and it was because of this that I decided that it would be good for me to try and clear my head.

So, that was why I was currently sitting on the edge of the cliff-diving...er...cliff. It was quite peaceful just sitting there, and quiet too. In fact, it was almost like one of those scenes from those movies where the main character is just sitting there contemplating on life whilst inspirational music plays in the background. Only there wasn't any music playing for me. Maybe I should have payed someone to stand a few feet behind me with a radio or something, whilst playing some cheesy, inspirational music?

Immediately after that thought, the sound of twigs cracking suddenly reached my ears, and with an expectant look on my face, I quickly glanced over my shoulder. Now, I'll be honest, when I first looked, I was literally expecting to see another one of those bloody wolves, and I was actually getting ready to throw myself off the cliff and out of harm's way (although, to be honest, throwing yourself off a cliff can be considered pretty harmful). Thankfully, though, it wasn't a wolf.

Instead, it was Paul, and considering his less than warm behaviour this morning, I couldn't help but secretly hope it _had _been a wolf. At least then I would have had a legitimate reason for jumping off the cliff in an attempt to escape. However, since it was only Paul, who was harmless other than his annoying mood swings, I couldn't really attempt my escape without looking like a lunatic. Thankfully, he seemed to be in an alright mood. I mean, he didn't look especially happy or anything, but at least he wasn't giving me stink eye again, right?

"You shouldn't be out here alone, y'know," Paul said, as he stood on the spot staring right at me, "Especially not when it's getting dark," He added, nodding up at the sky, which was now starting to slowly turn a dark, dull navy colour. I hadn't actually realised how late it was until now, and only then did it occur to me that I'd actually been sitting here for a good few hours. How on earth did I manage that? How had I not become bored?

Instead of actually answering Paul, who had been staring at me strangely as I sat there all quiet, I merely grinned goofily, accidently flashing my brace-clad teeth, which is something I never usually do. Maybe I was feeling especially happy, or maybe I was high or something. I don't really know.

"You should really head home, it's not that safe anymore," Paul stated, before going off on some mumbling rant, "Especially not with those two running around...and that filthy bl-" The rest of his rant, unfortunately, became inaudible, and no matter how hard I tried to pick up on what he was saying (yes, I am very nosy) I just couldn't hear him. He didn't seem too pleased though. But to be honest, Paul always seemed to have something to complain about. Then again, so did I.

Anyhoo, I decided to heed good ol' Paul's warnings, and with a tired sigh, I slowly got to my feet, being careful not to fall off the edge of the cliff like the uncoordinated git I am. In fact, Paul looked slightly on edge as I got to my feet, clearly he was expecting me to plummet off the cliff or something.

"You mind if I walk you back?" Paul asked suddenly, and at that moment, I swore that my ovaries exploded. That and I was internally screaming and partying. I mean, it's always nice when your crush wants to walk you home. Not that any of my crushes had ever walked me home before. They more like ran away from me screaming. Still, it was a nice feeling all the same.

Before I could stop myself, I let out a small, slightly hysterical giggle, before immediately shutting up on realising that yes, I had actually giggled. Paul didn't seem to mind though, instead, he grinned in a slightly cheeky manner. Clearly he was in one of his cocky moods again.

"I'll take that as a yes then," He said, before heading back through the trees and down the small dirt-path that twisted all the way down the cliff. "What were you doing out here anyways?"

I merely shrugged as I followed him. What had I been doing again? Well, I'd been thinking...I think...and I'm pretty sure I had been staring. But at what? The sea? Oh my God, just a random thought, how cool would it be to be a fish? I mean, you can swim underwater and not die from drowning! And some fish had really pretty colours. "God, I wish I was a fish,"

"What?"

I froze, my eye widening dramatically. I'd done it again, hadn't I? God, now Paul was going to think I was some weird fish girl who had an obsession with fish and wanted to have gills. I mean, sure they were pretty, and kinda cool, but in no way was I obsessed with them. God, how was I going to get out of this one?

"Erm...I just meant they were pretty? And cool?" I bit my lip, fully aware of the large, slightly mocking grin on Paul's face, "I mean, sure they smell really bad, and they don't taste too good, but they're pretty, right?" God. Kill me now. Maybe I should pay someone to, like, sew my mouth shut or something? At least then I wouldn't say almost everything that sprung to mind. I mean, sure, it'd look weird and would probably be painful, but at least it would stop me from embarrassing myself on a daily basis.

"You're really weird. You know that, right?" Paul said, and I couldn't help but sigh in an exasperated manner.

"Yep, you've said that quite a few times now,"

I think Paul could sense that I was feeling a bit put out. That and my voice had suddenly turned very small and sad. Anyhoo, I think that was why he suddenly started trying to cheer me up, in his own little odd way, "Aw, c'mon, there's nothing wrong with weird, right? I mean, weird's...uh...y'know...weird?" He smiled awkwardly, though I could tell I'd probably creeped him out big time. "Look, weird's good...it's...cute," Wait. What? Had Paul just said weird was cute? Was he calling me cute? OH MY GOD! Was he hitting on me!?

"Psshhh," I scoffed, before throwing my head back and letting out an unnaturally loud bark of laughter. I was losing my cool...erm...not that I am ever cool, but, y'know. "No, cute isn't weird...erm...I mean, weird isn't cute...it's weird...heh..." It was then that I decided that it would be a good time for me to shut the hell up.

"Nah," Paul shrugged and ran a hand through his hair, trying to appear offhand. It didn't really work though, I could tell he was starting to feel a little uncomfortable, "It's...uh...nice,"

Annnnd cue the awkward silence.

Thankfully, however, we'd now passed the bottom of the cliff, and were now heading down the path towards my house. Only a couple more minutes of awkwardness and I would be free!

"Hey, you never answered my question," Paul said suddenly, breaking the silence. What was the question again? I can't even remember now. "What were you doing up there by yourself?" Ah, so that was the question.

Sighing, I shrugged, determinedly not thinking about fishes, just in case I let something else slip out of this stupid mouth of mine. "Just thinking," There. That sounded normal, right? That's what I should have told Paul in the first place instead of telling him that I apparently wanted to be a fish.

"Bet that was painful," Paul said, smirking, though he froze upon noticing the totally un-amused and unimpressed look on my face. Yep. He was totally not funny.

"You're never nice, are you?" It was more of a rhetorical question, to be quite honest, but Paul still answered.

"I am nice!" He declared (quite loudly too) with an affronted look on his face, "I'm walking you home, aren't I?" Okay, I admit, he had a good point. It was rather sweet of him to walk me home, though, to be honest, I was confused as to _why _he felt the need to walk me home. Maybe he felt sorry for me? Or maybe he was just trying to be friendly? Meh. Who knows?

"Well...erm...thanks?" I smiled gratefully at him, the awkwardness beginning to creep up on me again, "But you didn't have to, y'know,"

Paul shrugged, a small smirk on his face. It wasn't one of his usual cocky ones, though, it was more friendly. "Nah, it's alright. I wanted to. You're a funny kid,"

"Kid? We're the same age!" Okay, that came out a lot louder than I intended it to. In fact, I'm pretty sure I had almost screamed it. Thankfully, Paul didn't seem to mind too much.

"Okay! Calm down, no need to get your panties in a twist," He said, chuckling to himself as I merely rolled my eyes at his response. For his information, my panties were not in a twist. Not that my panties were any concern of his. Thankfully, though, before I could point this out and go on another one of my crazy rants, we reached my house, and almost instantly, I spotted the face of my nosy mother peeking out of the window. She had a large, smug grin on her face as she spied on the two of us. No doubt she was going to tease me like mad later on. I didn't care though. I was just happy that Paul had actually been kind enough to walk me home, though, the atmosphere did turn a little awkward as we stood outside my house, unsure of how to say our goodbyes. Well, _I _was. Paul didn't seem at all phased, though, he merely looked at me in an expectant manner with the usual smirk on his face.

"Erm...bye," And with that, I hurried into the house, accidentally slamming the door shut with a lot more force than I had originally intended. Ah, well. That didn't matter.

What _did_ matter though, was the fact that my mother was now standing in the hallway, staring at me with a mischievous glint in her eye, and her arms crossed over her chest.

Let the teasing _commence._

"So, Cora, who was that fine young man, hmmm?" She asked in a sing song sort of tone, "A boyfriend, perhaps?"

"Paul is not my boyfriend!"

"Ooh, Paul? Do you call him Paulie-kins? Is he your boyfriend? Yeah?" God, she was going to be relentless, I can tell you that now. She was never going to drop this, "So, have you kissed him? Have you and Paulie-kins kissed?"

"Oh my God, woman! Me and Paulie-ki- **Paul dammit! **Me and bloody Paul are not bloody going out and that is bloody final!" I screeched, fully aware that Paul could still be outside and that if he was, he could probably hear every word we were saying. Oh, Lord, give me bloody strength!

"Someone's in a bad mood," Mum commented, with a sly grin on her face, "Have you and Paulie-kins had an argument? You want to talk about it?" That was it.

"Right, I am going up to my room and I'm never coming back down again, okay!? Now shut up woman, and good day!" I may have gone a bit over the top, but I didn't really care. In fact, as I stomped up the stairs towards my room, leaving my mother to giggle by herself like a little school girl, I couldn't help but feel embarrassed. This was the closest I'd ever been to a guy whom I'd had a crush on (and even now, we weren't even that close), and to be honest, I did wish he were my boyfriend, but that was never going to happen. Not when I was like this. I was an embarrassment in a way. I was unable to hold my tongue, which resulted in me saying things that shouldn't be said out loud, like 'I wish I were a fish'. That's not something you're meant to say to your crush, right? No, of course not.

I'd given up all hope on maturing, but maybe now I could at least try not to say everything that sprung to mind. Maybe then Paul might actually like me a little, right? Maybe if I wasn't so awkward, I would actually have a chance with him.

* * *

"Cora! There's someone at the door for you!"

I was halfway through eating my breakfast in my room (if I'd sat downstairs in the kitchen with my mother, she'd have teased me ruthlessly about Paulie-kins) when she called for me. And upon hearing her words, I immediately assumed it was Allie and perhaps even Gemma. Maybe she had recovered from her fever?

With a large smile on my face, I bounded down the stairs. Maybe Allie would offer me a ride to school so that I wouldn't have to walk and be active? That would be great!

Unfortunately, however, as I reached the door, completely oblivious to the smug look on my mother's face as I brushed past her, I realised that in fact it was _not _Allie and Gemma at the door. Instead, it was Paul. What the hell was he doing here? Shouldn't he be on his way to school right now? Better yet, shouldn't _I _be on my way to school right now?

"Erm...hi..." I was fully aware of the suspicious look that I was now giving Paul. But to be honest, it was kind of weird. The last time he'd visited my house he'd actually attempted to eat my food, which was so not cool.

"Hurry up or we're gonna be late," Paul said, completely ignoring my greeting. I still didn't really get why he was here. And what did he mean by _we? _

"What do you mean?"

Paul merely rolled his eyes and smirked, "I _mean _hurry up or we're going to be late for school, stupid," Oh, right. Wait, was he actually planning on walking to school with me? Me? Even after yesterday when I blurted out something about wanting to be a fish? Wow.

"Um...okay, then, let's go," I smiled, stepping out of the house and proceeding to shut the door behind me, however, I was stopped almost instantly by Paul placing his large hand on the door, keeping it propped open. What was he doing? Just a few moments ago he'd been complaining that we were going to be late!

"You're not wearing any shoes,"

Ah, so that's why he'd stopped me...

How on earth had I not noticed I wasn't wearing shoes? Total fail.

Anyhoo, after quickly going back into the house and pulling on my shoes, I swiftly hurried back, this time managing to shut the door behind me successfully without any interruptions.

"Remembered your shoes this time?" Paul asked, his smirk growing wider as I merely brushed past him with an unimpressed look on my face. There was no way I was going to let him get to me. Nope, no way.

As the two of us started on our what-would-most-likely-turn-awkward journey to school, I couldn't help but ask him the question that was now stuck in my mind, "Why are you walking to school with me?" It's not as if I minded. Secretly I was actually quite flattered, but it just struck me as odd. He'd walked me home last night, and now he was walking me to school. Maybe he thought we were friends or something? Actually, the more I thought about it, we _were _friends. It was nice, knowing that for once a boy wasn't completely and utterly terrified of me.

"Dunno," Paul answered, shrugging casually, "Just thought it would be nice walking with you," I couldn't help but smile at that. It was pleasing to know that someone actually wanted to spend time with me.

"Oh...thank you, that's...er...very kind of you," I said, trying my best to act all cool and as though I didn't really care that he was walking with me. This failed, however, and despite my attempts, my voice sounded overly happy and eager. Paul seemed okay with it though. In fact, he grinned widely upon hearing my cheerful tone of voice.

"Well, what can I say? I'm a nice guy," He said, a smirk appearing on his face as he shrugged again. I couldn't help but raise my eyebrows at that. Sure, he was being nice now, but he did have his moments where he could be a bit of a meanie.

"Of _course _you are," I smiled sarcastically at him, before an odd thought suddenly struck me. Was I actually sort of having a normal conversation with Paul right now? I mean, sure, I'd only been walking with him for a few minutes, but so far I hadn't said or did anything to embarrass myself. Well, other than forgetting to put my shoes on at first. Other than that I was being normal. Now _that _was a huge accomplishment!

"Hey, I am nice! I could be driving to school right now but instead I'm walking with _you," _

Wait, what?

"You have a car? You actually drive?" I demanded. Paul just nodded, with a slightly confused expression on his face. "Well then what are we doing? It's bloody freezing out and you're making me walk to school! You could just drive me there!"

"I take it you don't really like exercise?" Paul asked, a sly smirk on his face as he glanced at me, his eyes glinting mischievously. I shook my head. "Well, all the more reason to walk, right?" Oh, God, he was so evil.

"You're trying to kill me with exercise, aren't you?"

Paul chuckled and shook his head, "Nah, it's just funny seeing you frustrated," A groan escaped my lips upon hearing his response, and immediately I began dragging my feet. Yep, he was evil. I mean, it would be so much quicker and less tiring (not that the walk to school _was _tiring. I was just lazy) to just drive to school. Yet, here he was, forcing me to walk even though he could have just driven me there. Whoop-de-doo! Still, I suppose I should be grateful that he's even walking with me, right?

"Tell you what," Paul began, grinning widely, "I'll give you a ride to and from school every day _if..." _Great. It had all sounded so good up until the 'if'. I should have known there would have been a catch. What was he going to do? Make me be his slave for the rest of my life? Make me walk round forests naked with him? Feed me to the wolves!?

Wait, no of course he wouldn't feed me to the wolves! If he did, I wouldn't be able to get a ride off him to school, and _that _would be pretty pointless. So what else could he possibly want? God, the suspense was killing me here!

"...you sit with me a lunch today,"

What? Was that it? He wasn't going to kill me or anything like that? _Really? _Wow. No, wait, not wow. Did that mean I would have to sit with all of his scary mates?

"Will the other steroid guys be there?" I asked, squinting my eyes suspiciously. This wasn't a plan for them to all beat me up, was it? They weren't going to, like, ambush me as soon as I sat down and steal all of my food, were they?

"No, I just meant the two of us," He said, choosing to ignore the 'steroid' bit. That kind of made me giggle (I was sick of all this giggling, but at least I wasn't snorting like a pig like I usually do, right?) thinking about the fact that Paul wanted to sit with me _alone. _I couldn't help but wonder why though. I mean, obviously he couldn't sit with me, Allie and Gemma as they hated him. And he was probably worried in case I would completely embarrass myself and most likely him too in front of his mates. Yes. That would be it.

Wait. Allie and Gemma! They would be pretty mad if I ditched them for Paul, wouldn't they? Though, to be fair, they had abandoned me when we went cliff-diving, right? But, no, wait, what if Gemma was off again from that fever? I couldn't just leave Allie on her own, and she certainly would not want to sit with Paul. Damn.

"I can't," I said, sighing heavily, "Gemma's off with a fever, and I can't leave Allie by herself. How about I sit with you once Gemma comes back in?" That seemed like a fair deal to me, however, Paul seemed to completely ignore my offer, and instead of looking please at my negotiation, he actually looked rather alarmed and slightly frustrated.

"What?" He demanded, his voice now cold and very demanding. Oh, God. What had I said this time? "That Gemma kid, she's off with a fever?" I merely nodded in response, confused as to why he was so interested in Gemma all of a sudden. I admit, I was slightly jealous, and actually contemplated on causally letting slip that Gemma actually had a boyfriend, though, I was surprised that Paul didn't already know. After all, Gemma and Logan weren't exactly subtle, and had taken to kissing, holding hands and acting all loved up in the middle of the hallways.

"Shit," Paul muttered, running a hand through his hair. His voice was now much quieter than it had been before, "Sam might be right...fuck...this is bad..." Paul suddenly stopped walking, and started staring off into the trees, seemingly contemplating on something. But what? We were so near the school too. He wasn't just going to run off and leave me, right? And what about our deal? He hadn't given me an answer yet!

"Look, I have to go...but I'll see you later or something...fuck..." and with that, Paul sprinted off into the trees, leaving me staring after him like a gormless git.

"Oi! I want my answer!" I yelled after a few seconds of just staring into the trees. I didn't know if he could hear me or not. He'd ran off pretty fast. Nevertheless, I continued to shout, "You hear me!? I want my answer! I want my fudging answer!"


	11. Did You Just Growl At Me?

**(A/N) Okay, so this chapter was kind of late too, and again I'm so sorry! It's starting to near the time where I leave school (I only have 3 weeks left and then I'm FREEEE! ;D) so I have a canny few exams coming up, but I promise to update this as much as I can! ;P And this might seem like a filler chapter, but it's not! The detention and the conversation with Allie and the blondie situation are kind of leading up to the more main parts of the story ;P And also, there may be a teeny bit of romance in the next chapter! But only a tiny bit ;P**

**Anyhoo, thank you to _UnicornsLoveBananas97, d112hpfan, booklover1598, Lalina92, kriscrable, All-Smiles1234, live2livemylife, MrsMaynard _and to the guest for reviewing the last chapter! I really appreciate it, thanks so much! ;D And thanks to everyone who faved and followed! ;P**

**As usual, I hope you enjoy this, if there are any mistakes then please let me know, annnd reviews and constructive criticism are greatly appreciated! Enjoy, I'm going to sleep now ;P**

* * *

Chapter 11 – Did You Just Growl At Me?

* * *

After Paul had ran off into the forest, I didn't see him for the rest of the day. It was as if he had vanished or something. In fact, I didn't see him until the morning after, when he randomly walked in halfway through our English class. Needless to say, the teacher was not at all pleased with him. Paul didn't care though, he merely sauntered to his seat, flashing me a smirk as he passed by. Once he sat down, I was half expecting him to start kicking my chair like he usually did. Thankfully, however, he didn't.

Instead, he just sat there all silent, much to my dismay. I mean, to be honest, I'd been hoping that he would tell me what was going on. Hoping that he'd tell me the reason why he ran off or at least giving me some sort of explanation, but I guessed we weren't really close enough for him to trust me with whatever was going on. However, that still didn't stop me from being my usual nosy self.

Once Mrs Culpepper had set us off on our work, I immediately turned round in my chair, and began to question Paul, "Where have you been?" I hissed, keeping my voice down low. Mrs Culpepper would be sure to give us a good telling off if she caught us talking, not to mention a detention too.

In response to my question, Paul merely shrugged lazily. He looked rather tired, as though he hadn't gotten much sleep. "Just been out and about," He muttered his voice oddly quiet. Well, actually, scratch that. He obviously had to be quiet. Wouldn't want Mrs Culpepper to catch us now, would we?

Casting a quick glance over in the teacher's direction to make sure she hadn't spotted us, I was relieved to see that her attention was focused on the large stack of papers she was busy marking. "What do you mean?" I asked, once I'd made sure she hadn't noticed us, "You weren't at school at all yesterday,"

Again, Paul merely shrugged lazily. Clearly he wasn't willing to give anything away, but I really wanted to know what was going on. He'd disappeared into that forest more than once, and each time it left me feeling more and more confused. I was determined to find out.

Unfortunately, for me, though, Mrs Culpepper had finally taken to glancing round the class to make sure everyone was doing their work. All of them had their heads down, concentrating on the task set for them. The only two people not doing their work were Paul and I.

"Coralie Kingston, is there a reason why you're not getting on with your work right now, hmm?" She asked, immediately gaining the attention of the rest of the class. They all turned in their seats to stare at me and Paul. Nosy gits.

"Ummm..." Seriously, what are you supposed to say when the teacher calls on you like that? "No...?" My response didn't seem to please Mrs Culpepper too much. In fact, if anything, she seemed to think I was being cheeky. However, she only gave me an annoyed glare before turning her attention to Paul.

"And what about you, Paul? Is there are reason why _you're _not doing your work either?" By now, everyone else had grown bored of the situation and returned their attention back to their work.

Meanwhile, as the teacher continued to stare at Paul in what she clearly thought was an intimidating manner, he merely leaned back in his chair, crossed his arms over his chest and remained silent with the usual smirk on his face. Well, that did it.

"Well, since you two are clearly wasting time here when you could actually be working, you can come back tomorrow after school for a detention," Mrs Culpepper said, with a rather smug look on her face. Clearly she thought that a detention was a very harsh punishment, but to be honest, I didn't really care. It wasn't as though I actually had a life, and that the detention was going to interfere with anything. Of course it wasn't. Still, I couldn't help but feel just the slightest bit guilty. Whilst I clearly didn't have a life, and had no plans for tomorrow after school, Paul might have actually had plans. And I'd just ruined these possible plans by being nosy and questioning him. I felt like a right git.

And so, for the remainder of the lesson, I merely kept quiet, not uttering a single word, and instead, got on with my work, though, I still wasn't entirely focused. In my head, I was trying to think of a way to apologize to Paul. Should I just say sorry? Y'know, keep it plain and simple. Or should I get down on my hands and knees, and _beg _for forgiveness? Or would that seem a little too over the top? Meh, probably.

Anyhoo, it wasn't until the bell rang that I was able to apologize to Paul. If I'd tried saying sorry to him while the lesson was still going on, Mrs Culpepper would've probably just given us another detention, and that wouldn't really improve Paul's mood. I mean, I didn't really know _if _Paul was actually angry with me, but if I were him, I would've been furious.

However, upon turning round after the bell had rang, I immediately noted that Paul didn't look at all bothered about the detention. In fact, as he looked at me, he merely grinned broadly. How was he _not_ mad at me?

"Sorry about the detention, Paul," I smiled sheepishly, feeling rather relieved that he wasn't actually annoyed at me.

Paul merely shrugged, before getting out of his seat, "It's only a detention. Don't worry about it,"

"Yeah...well...sorry again," It was pointless apologizing again after he'd just told me not to worry about it, but that didn't really stop me from doing so, much to Paul's disdain.

"I already told you," He started, rolling his eyes, "Don't worry about it,"

I nodded, "Oh, okay, sorry,"

And _that _was when it turned awkward. I mean, I honestly hadn't meant to say sorry again. In fact, I wasn't even apologizing for anything. I was more just saying sorry to show that I was now going to stop apologizing for getting Paul a detention. Only, that kind of failed, and instead, made me look like a bit of a git.

"You really need to stop saying sorry," Paul stated, smirking. As _if _I didn't know that already. Nevertheless, it still didn't stop me from saying what I said next. I wish it had done, though.

"Oh, right, sorry, I'll stop now," It wasn't until a few seconds later did I realise that I'd stupidly apologized again. Why? Bloody _why? _

Thankfully, Paul didn't dwell on my awkwardness too much, and upon noticing that almost everyone else had left the room (minus Mrs Culpepper who was quite clearly eavesdropping on our conversation, desperate to hear some juicy gossip to take to the staff room) decided that it perhaps was a good time to take his leave. That, and if we didn't move soon we'd most likely be late for our next lesson, which wouldn't be good.

"Well, I'm gonna head off now," Paul stated, before starting to head out the classroom, with me following not too far behind, "Later, Cora," And with that he was gone. Well, not _literally _gone. To be more specific, he was merely walking away to get to his next lesson, which is what I should have been doing. But for some reason, I just stood on the spot watching him walk away like some silly stalker.

Guess my feelings for him were growing a little, huh?

* * *

Lunch.

Finally!

My stomach had been making dying whale noises for the past hour, but alas, the time for food had finally come! I was so hungry, I probably would've eaten every edible thing in the cafeteria if it weren't for the fact that Allie seemed really down.

I hadn't spoken to Allie since our little run-in where she went all secretive and got really agitated, and to be honest, her mood didn't seem to have improved at all. She looked very tired and stressed, and I couldn't help but feel sorry for her. Whatever this secret was, it must have been something pretty major. It seemed to be wearing her down, bit by bit. In fact, I suspected she was feeling a bit ill too, as the heat radiating from her was _not_ normal, at all.

"'Sup?" I greeted her, as I sat down at our usual table with my mouth crammed full of mash potato. Yep, I know, it's not very nice to talk with your mouth full, but I was in dire need for food, and Allie seemed in dire need for some cheering up. I simply had no other option.

"Not much," She mumbled. She looked and sounded rather miserable. It was strange. She always seemed so calm and at peace. "Gemma's off ill again, by the way,"

I admit, I was starting to miss Gemma in a weird way. Even if we hadn't been very close, it was weird without her being there. "She still got that fever?" I asked. It must have been a pretty bad fever if she was still off sick.

Allie nodded, "She won't be in for a while."

"Oh," I nodded, "How long have you two known each other for?" It was a rather sudden question, but judging by how down Allie seemed at the fact that Gemma wasn't going to be in school (I assumed this was why she was so upset) they must have been pretty close. Maybe they'd known each other for a while?

"Since we were kids," Allie replied, smiling in a rather grim manner. "Our families moved here five years ago. We come from a different reservation,"

"You guys must be really close then, huh?"

Allie suddenly smirked in a rather dark manner. It was kind of creepy in a way, the way her mood changed from sullen to amused in a mere matter of seconds, "You have no idea," She stated, her smirk growing ever so slightly wider. Clearly I was missing out on some inside joke or something like that.

"Do you like it here?" I questioned. I never really got Allie and Gemma. In fact, now that I thought about it, they looked, sort of, out of place in La Push. As if they didn't feel comfortable. Almost as if they didn't belong. But of course, that was ridiculous.

In response to my question, Allie merely shrugged, with a nonchalant look on her face, "It's alright. I mean, some of the people are a bit..." At this she glanced over at the La Push table, where Paul and all his friends were sitting, stuffing mounds of food into their mouths, kind of like what I was doing myself. "...erm...a bit..._unusual," _

The way she said 'unusual' made me suspect that she was hinting at something, but what? Maybe it was just her way of showing her disdain for the La Push gang? Or maybe she was hinting towards the fact that perhaps she knew something that I, and many others, didn't. It was all very curious.

"Who's unusual?" I asked, hoping that perhaps she would delve into the matter more, and at least give something away.

Instead, she merely smiled in a rather secretive manner, "You'll find out in time. Besides, that good-for-nothing ass will end up telling you soon," She said, glaring over at the La Push gang, "I doubt he can keep it from you any longer, and if he doesn't tell you, he'll probably just end up losing his temper," Wait, what? _Who _was she on about?

"They think we don't know about them," Allie continued, not quite realising what she was saying. She seemed far to agitated to realise that she was going on some sort of crazed rant about who knows what. "They think I'm stupid, but they'll get what's coming to them. Now that there's two of us..."

"Um...Allie?"

"Huh?" And with that, Allie snapped out of her rant, her eyes widening. She looked nervous, as though perhaps she maybe thought she'd said too much. Well, she hadn't, and she'd most definitely left me feeling confused. In fact, part of me wished I hadn't interrupted her small rant. Perhaps if I'd have let her continue, something important would have slipped.

"What were you talking about?" I didn't really expect Allie to answer my question, but it was worth a try, right?

"Y'know, I have to go now," She said, quickly getting to her feet, looking rather panicky. Had she almost given something away? Why was she panicking? "I have to go check on Gemma. I'll see you later, or...something," And with that, she was off and out of the cafeteria in a flash (not literally), leaving me to stare after her in a confused manner.

Whatever they were hiding, I had to find out. I was determined.

* * *

Not once had I visited my Gran-Gran since moving to La Push. Not once. I'd been here for about a month, and yet, I hadn't gone to see her. Why? I mean, sure I wasn't too fond of that stupid rocking chair that she always kept, but that was still no excuse for not going to visit her.

And so, after an extremely confusing day at school, I thought I'd be nice and visit her. Keep her company or something. She's probably been feeling lonely ever since Granddad passed away. She needed all the company she could get, and I couldn't help but feel as though I'd neglected her for the past month of living here in this loony bin full of...erm...loonies.

Anyhoo, once I'd had my tea and scoffed my face with whatever food that was within my reach, I'd decided to have a nice little stroll over to Gran-Gran's.

And by nice, I mean creepy.

I was about halfway to my Gran-Gran's when I bumped into blondie, or Amber, as everyone else calls her. I mean, I didn't _literally _bump into her, it just happened that we were both about to pass each other when we suddenly stopped and kind of stood around awkwardly. Amber looked as though she wanted to say something to me, but she didn't. In fact, we both just stood there on the spot, and for once, Amber wasn't actually glaring at me, which was a surprise. Instead, she was smiling, though rather awkwardly, I might add. Then again, I supposed my smile was awkward too. I had no idea why we had both stopped, we just had. And now, we had no idea on whether to start talking or not.

Amber was the first to speak, "Um...Hi..." Her voice was very soft and girly, and for someone who'd taken a liking to glaring at me almost every time she saw me, her tone was rather friendly. "You're Cora, right?"

Oh my God! How did blondie know my name!?

"Um...yeah," I smiled awkwardly.

"Oh, well, I'm Amber," She seemed to be growing a little more confident now, and much less awkward. Her tone was much stronger, and less nervous, "I just wanted to say sorry,"

Sorry? Sorry for what?

She seemed to sense that I was confused, and let out a small, light laugh, "I know I haven't exactly been nice to you," Nice to me? She'd never even spoken to me. She just glared, "I mean, what with the evil eye and stuff..." Oh, right.

"It's okay," I smiled. It was nice of her to apologize for something so small, "I mean, it's no big-" Now, it was at that point, that I was interrupted by a sudden loud growling. And when I say loud, I _mean _loud. It was quite eerie, in a way, and sent chills down my spine, but I was more confused than scared.

"Did you just growl at me!?" Amber and I both asked each other simultaneously. Yep. It would have been funny-ish if it weren't for the fact that something or _someone _had growled at us. What if it was some weird, crazy axe-wielding murder hidden in the trees?

"I didn't growl," I stated, shaking my head. Amber widened her eyes, a panicked expression suddenly weaving its way onto her face.

"Me neither," She said, her voice wavering ever so slightly. She had a right to be scared. There was something nearby, and by the sounds of it, it was growling at us. That couldn't be a good sigh, right? "Oh my God, what do we do?" Amber suddenly asked, her voice starting to become slightly hysterical. Clearly she was almost as terrified as I was, but to be honest, I had no idea what to do. I mean, what are you meant to do in these sort of situations? Cry?

It wasn't until the menacing growl rang through the air again did I decide that it was best to- "Oh my effing bloody Jesus Christ God! RUN!" And that's exactly what we did. We took off running as fast as our legs could carry us. If anyone had of seen us, we would've looked like two complete and utter idiots, but we didn't care. _Something_ was _growling_ at us.

Clearly, we were going to die.

"Oh my God, blondie! Wait up!" I huffed, seeing how far ahead she was. She didn't wait though, she just kept on running. And screaming. In fact, she kind of reminded me of myself, except from the fact that for once, I was not screaming, despite the situation. I was far too out of breath to scream, and I had only been running for probably less than a minute. Thankfully, though, Amber must have been almost as unfit as me, as she too seemed to be slowing down. I was surprised the growly-thingy hadn't caught us yet. Was it even chasing us?

Chancing a glance over my shoulder, I noticed that nothing was actually behind us. Absolutely nothing. Whatever had growled clearly couldn't be bothered to chase us. That or we had imagined it, but I found that hard to believe.

"What the hell was that!?" Amber demanded, once I'd somehow managed to catch up with her. We stopped and stood on the spot, panting for breath. It was safe to say we were both worn out despite only running for about a minute and a half. It was nice to know there was someone else in La Push who was almost as unfit as me.

"I don't know! But it growled at us!" I panted, my eyes widening, "It bloody growled at us!"

"Well, thanks, Captain Obvious!" Amber cried out, her voice still sounding rather hysterical, "Oh my God, I thought we were going to die!"

"I think I _am _going to die!" I said, clutching my chest as I wheezed. God, maybe it was time for me to hit the gym or something. "I don't think I've ran so fast in my life!"

Amber shook her head, "Me neither. You think we should tell someone about this? I mean, whatever it was," She paused, wiping her brow, "it didn't sound too friendly," She had a very good point there.

"I dunno, some guy, Charlie Swoon or whatever is looking into it, apparently there's been loads of sightings of wolves,"

"Wolves?" Amber squeaked.

"Yeah. Haven't you seen them? They're bloody massive!" How had she not seen them? They were everywhere! They could've been surrounding us right now! "And bloody terrifying! I'm telling you, they almost gave me a heart attack!"

If it were possible, Amber's expression turned even more frightened, and her eyes widened even more, "Wolves?" She repeated, "Oh my God! That's it, I'm going home and never leaving!" I admit, it was kind of creepy how alike we sounded.

"Now, _that _is a bloody good idea," I nodded in an approving manner, "I'm going home too," And with that, I was off. Leaving Amber to head home herself. I just wanted to get home, now. I was absolutely terrified, and I had a sneaking suspicion that those growling noises had actually came from one of those massive wolves that seemed to have a knack for stalking me. It was getting really scary now. Almost everywhere I went, there was always a wolf, and it was starting to get really freaky. I mean, was this normal wolf behaviour?

But wait! What if it weren't a wolf that made that growling? What if it were something worse? Like a shark that could survive on land or something? Or a giant, man-eating spider? God, I shuddered at the thought!

I admit, as I walked home, now constantly on the lookout for any man-eating spiders or land-sharks, I couldn't help but feel a little guilty for failing to visit my Gran-Gran, and I knew that I was going to have to visit her sometime. But at the minute, I just wanted to curl up on my bed and stay in my room for hours. At least then I would be safe from any wolves, right?

_Right?_


	12. Almost

**(A/N) And here's chapter 12, and as promised there is a teeny bit of romance in this one! Well..._almost _a bit of romance ;P I decided to be a bit mean and not make it full on romance-y ;P Anyhoo, I hope you like iiit ;P**

**Thank you to everyone who followed/favourited and also thank you to _booklover1598, kriscrable, Lalina92, All-Smiles1234, karlskaye, UnicornsLoveBananas97, Kisa19, NobleAndAncientLineBlack, Peanut Butter makes Diamonds _and to the guest for reviewing! Thanks so much ;P And also, I was asked to add a little more description of Cora, and I actually forgot to add some to this chapter, but I swear I'll add a description of her in the next chapter! I'm sorry for forgetting D;**

**Anyhoo, as usual please review this chapter, and also if there are any mistakes then please tell me! Enjoooooooooooy...hopefully. ;P**

* * *

Chapter 12 – Almost

* * *

Gemma was off again.

I hadn't seen her for quite a while now, and I was seriously starting to worry about her. Her apparent fever must have been pretty darn bad if she was still off sick with it.

Allie was absent from school too.

In fact, so was blondie. Not that Amber being off mattered to me much. I suppose she was trying to get over our traumatic experience with the growling incident yesterday. Boy, had that spooked me.

Anyhoo, I felt kind of lonely at school. I was currently sitting at the lunch table all by myself, with no one to talk to. I'd kind of hoped that Paul would've come to sit with me if he saw me looking all lonely, but he didn't. Instead, he continued sitting with his friends, whilst they all stuffed their faces with food. Greedy gits. Though, to be fair, if _I _had food right now, I'd probably be doing the same. Unfortunately, I'd left all my money at home, and therefore, could not buy myself any food, and so, I had to sit there and starve, listening to my stomach continuously make the noises of a dying whale.

Thankfully, though, there was _one _person who seemed to take pity on me sitting by myself, and that person was Logan. Gemma's boyfriend.

"Allie's off too, then, huh?" Logan asked, upon sitting down in the chair opposite me. I merely nodded in response, wincing as my stomach rumbled loudly for about the five hundredth time today. "Why haven't you got any food?"

"I forgot my money," I said, as I mournfully watched Logan stuff his face with chips (or fries as everyone else says). It was like he was rubbing the fact that he had food and I didn't in my face. Well, that was until he picked up a chip and held it out towards me. I'm pretty sure he nearly stuck it up my nose by accident.

"Oh my God, you're a saviour! Thank you!" I said, grabbing the chip off him and immediately shoving it in my mouth. God, it felt so good to be eating!

"Here, we can share," Logan shoved his tray of food to the middle of the table, making it easier to reach for me. I currently loved him right now (in a friendly way, of course). In fact, I would have gladly worshipped the ground he walked on. "I went to see Gemma yesterday, y'know," He said, making conversation. It would've been pretty awkward if we'd have been just sitting in silence whilst sharing a tray of chips.

"Oh, how is she?" I asked whilst proceeding to grab a handful of chips. He was probably going to regret sharing his chips with me, considering I would most likely end up eating them all.

"That's the thing. I actually didn't get to see her. Her mom said she was out somewhere with Allie, or something," I couldn't help but feel bad for Logan when he said this. He looked really put out and down.

"But I thought she was sick," I declared, raising my eyebrows. She couldn't have been that sick if she'd managed to go out with Allie. If she could go out with Allie then why couldn't she turn up for school?

"That's what I thought too," Logan replied, in a slightly bitter tone. Clearly he wasn't taking the situation very well.

"How long have you two been dating for?" I asked, in an attempt to lighten the subject slightly. I didn't want him going all sad and bitter on me. Not when I was eating his chips.

"We started dating like a month after she moved here," Logan answered, smiling in an amused manner as I grabbed yet another handful of chips and shoved them all in my mouth, "So, about just over a year, I think,"

...What?

My mouth suddenly dropped open, resulting in a few chips escaping from it. Usually I would have been embarrassed, but not this time. I was more concerned with the fact that I'd been lied to.

It was only yesterday that Allie had told me that she and Gemma had moved to La Push five years ago, after explaining that they'd known each other since they were kids. Yet now, I had Logan telling me they'd only been living in La Push for just over a year. What in the name of Jesus Christ was going on here? Honestly! I mean, who was I meant to believe? Sure, it wasn't that much of a big deal, but still, I didn't like being lied to. I'm pretty sure no one does. Why would they even lie about things like this, anyways? It wasn't exactly going to gain them anything. God...

Sighing, I leaned back in my chair. Suddenly, I didn't feel very hungry anymore, which was a massive shock. I mean, I'm almost always hungry. Something was definitely up.

Letting out another sigh, my eyes absent-mindedly drifted over to the La Push table, and almost immediately my gaze locked with Paul's. He didn't look too happy, but to be honest, that didn't really surprise me. He was always in either a cocky, cheeky kind of mood, _or _he was in a bad, annoying kind of mood. It was always the same. Nevertheless, he looked to be in a fouler mood that usual, as his eyes drifted between me and Logan. And that's when I remembered.

We were meant to be in detention with Mrs Culpepper right now.

"Fudging fudge maker!" I screeched, gaining the attention of a few people sitting on nearby tables. Logan almost choked on his fries from my unexpected outburst. "I'm meant to be in bloody detention!"

"What?" Logan stared at me in bewilderment. Poor bloke. He'd been nice enough to come sit and share his chips with me after seeing me sitting by myself like a loner, and now I had to ditch him. It made me feel kind of bad, but I couldn't really skip a detention now, could I?

"I'm sorry, I have a detention...um...bye!" And with that, I quickly hurried out of the cafeteria, though not before grabbing a few more chips from his tray. My appetite had definitely come back rather quickly, and once again, my stomach was feeling pretty empty.

* * *

It wasn't until five minutes through my detention did Paul finally arrive. To be honest, considering I'd seen him sitting in the cafeteria eating his lunch, I'd thought he'd maybe decided to just skip the detention, but I was wrong.

After barging through the door and into the classroom, Paul merely sauntered to his usual desk behind me, and after plopping himself down on the chair rather noisily, the room fell silent once again. I couldn't help but wonder why he'd came to the detention. I mean, he'd been sitting in the cafeteria with the rest of his friends, didn't that mean he'd been planning on skipping the detention? Or maybe he'd just forgotten, and upon seeing me hurrying out, remembered about it? Meh. Whatever.

"Okay, you two, I'm heading out to quickly get something, right. It'll only take a few minutes, but no funny business while I'm gone," Mrs Culpepper piped up suddenly, whilst hurrying towards the door. What on earth did she mean by funny business? What did she think we were going to do? Throw a party and smash the place up? I mean, that would be pretty fun, but there was no way I would ever have the guts to do that. I would be too scared of getting into trouble.

"Why are you so quiet?" That sudden outburst came from Paul, who, along with the question, decided a nice, forceful kick to the chair was in order. I was kind of confused, as I turned round in my chair to face him. I mean, weren't you _meant _to be silent during detentions?

"We're not meant to be talking," I pointed out, resting my elbows on his desk and placing my cheeks in the palms of my hands, "We're in detention," Paul merely laughed.

"You're such a nerd," He said, smirking widely as I frowned deeply at him. What was wrong with being a nerd? Ignoring his question, I merely stuck my tongue out at him in response. In fact, I was about to turn back around until he spoke again, "Why were you sitting with that dude at lunch?"

"You mean Logan?" Paul nodded, "Dunno, he just sat with me 'cos he felt sorry for me, I suppose," I shrugged casually. I honestly didn't see why Paul was asking about this. Why did he want to know? It wasn't really any of his business who I sat with to be perfectly honest. Not that I would ever say this to him.

"You were sharing his food."

Okay, I admit, I kind of laughed at this. I mean, he sounded so annoyed and bitter, it was funny, "I'm sure if you asked him, Logan would share his food with you too," I said, laughing lightly as Paul scowled, "I mean, if it means that much to you, I'm sure he wouldn't object,"

"Shut up," Paul growled, crossing his arms over his chest, "Why were you sharing his food anyways?"

"I had no money," I replied, suddenly becoming very suspicious of his behaviour. What was his problem? He was acting really weird. I mean, what was it to him if Logan was nice enough to share his food with me?

"You could've come to me. I would have gave you some," Paul muttered, still scowling in an annoyed fashion. That was when it hit me. Was Paul _jealous? _Was he jealous of me sitting with Logan? ...Oh my God, no! Of course not! What am I on? Of course Paul wouldn't be jealous. Why would he be jealous of Logan sitting with me? I wasn't anything special. Still...I couldn't help but get my hopes up.

"Well, it'd be a bit awkward if I just came up to you in front of your mates and went 'Oi, Paul, give me some pie' or something," I replied, smiling faintly, as Paul merely rolled his eyes in exasperation. "Why do you care, anyways?" I wasn't being rude or anything when I asked him this, I was genuinely curious. Why did he care who I sat or shared food with? It was stupid.

"Do you like him?"

"WHAT!?" Had he really just asked me that? Really? Jesus Christ, Logan was my friend's boyfriend! Of course I didn't like him! What did he think I was? Some sort of boyfriend stealer? No, of course not! What a stupid thing to ask! "Of course not! Jesus bloody Christ! What kind of person do you think I fudging am? He's dating Gemma! I don't _steal _people's boyfriends!" I admit, I was offended.

Paul, however, didn't seem fazed. Instead, he proceeded to ask another personal question. "So, who do you like?" God, I swear, he was even nosier than me, the nosy bugger! Still, upon asking me this, no matter how annoyed I was at him for asking the previous question, I could feel my cheeks burning up, and I knew that at that moment I probably resembled a tomato.

"Pfft! Me? Like someone? No! I don't like anyone! Why would you even ask me that? I mean-" I froze.

Paul's eyes were now boring into mine, and as I stared back at him I noticed that he was slowly starting to lean forward, his face inching towards me.

OH MY BLOODY GOD! WHAT WAS HAPPENING?

"Um...Paul?" I bit my lip hesitantly as he merely ignored me, and still continued to inch forward, "Hello?"

Okay, he was very close now. Very, very, _very _close. I could _feel _his breath hitting against my face. His eyes briefly flickered down to my lips before glancing back up into my eyes. Was he going to kiss me? No! He can't! I wasn't ready! How are you meant to kiss someone if you have braces? What if they got in the way!? Wait, what am I thinking? My braces are on my teeth! You don't kiss people with your teeth! You kiss them with your lips! OH MY GOD!

Our lips were almost touching now. We were so close and-

"Okay, I'm back!"

"_**GAAAAAAAH!"**_

Okay, I'm ashamed to admit that at that moment, when Mrs Culpepper barged through the door, in an attempt to jump away from Paul, I actually managed to fall out of my chair, landing on my bottom with a loud thump. It hurt.

"Coralie what on earth are you doing?" Mrs Culpepper immediately demanded. God, please say she didn't see anything, please say she didn't see anything... "I walk in here to see you two almost canoodling, and then you think it's totally appropriate to act like a child by throwing yourself onto the floor! Now, I have half a mind to give you two another detention!" God, she'd seen us. It was safe to say my face was probably growing more and more red by the minute. She was probably going to go to the staff room and tell all the other teachers, and then slowly it would spread to the students and then everyone would think there was a thing going on between me and Paul when clearly there wasn't. Nope.

After giving us a stern glare, Mrs Culpepper suddenly nodded towards the door, "Go on. You can leave. But no more talking _or_ canoodling in my lessons. Understood?" I nodded miserably in reply.

I don't know why, but suddenly I felt very down. Maybe it was because I felt embarrassed or something? Or maybe it was because my backside really hurt now from falling out of that chair? Or _maybe _it was because of the fact I'd almost kissed Paul.

Key word. _Almost. _

If only Mrs Culpepper had waited another minute or two before barging in, maybe then the kiss would have actually been successful. But no. She had to just walk in and ruin it all.

As I headed towards the classroom door, I made sure to send her a quick glare, before scurrying out. Did this mean things between Paul and I were going to be really awkward from now on? Well...more awkward than usual? I mean, we'd almost kissed for God's sake. That's not the sort of thing you can just forget overnight. I mean, I know at the time of the almost-a-kiss I'd been panicking like mad, but that didn't mean I didn't want it. Of course I'd wanted that kiss. We're talking about a kiss with Paul here, why wouldn't I want it?

"Cora!" Oh God, he was shouting for me now. What was I to do? Turn around and face the awkwardness, or run?

I chose the latter.

Now, I don't know why, but for some reason I deemed it appropriate to screech extremely loudly as I started working on my escape from Paul. In fact, as I sprinted through the hallways of the school, screaming my head off with Paul following not too far behind, I couldn't help but wonder _why _I'd decided to run. I mean, wouldn't this make things for Paul and I even more awkward for the next time we bumped into each other? What if he thinks I'm running because I didn't want to kiss him? I couldn't let him think that! I _did _want to kiss him, and yet, I couldn't quite bring myself to turn round and talk to him.

And so, I ran. Right out of the school entrance might add. In fact, I pretty much ran out of the car park too. I just couldn't stay in school for another hour. I needed time to think. I needed to go home.

* * *

They were on the cliff.

I could see the two of them as turned round on the way down the path to my house.

Allie and Gemma.

They were just sitting on the cliff. Not doing anything. Not cliff-diving. Not running around throwing a party. Nothing. So what the hell were they doing?

And on top of that, what the hell was Gemma doing on top of a bloody cliff when she was meant to be ill? She should've been at home recovering, right? And besides, if she'd managed to climb up that bloody cliff when ill, then I was pretty sure she was well enough to come into school.

God, if I thought I'd felt confused the other day, well, it was nothing to how I felt now. I literally felt like I was going crazy. I was _that _confused. What with Gemma and Allie being so mysterious, and with Paul almost kissing me, and then finding out Allie (or Logan) had lied about how long the two had been living in La Push for. God.

It was enough to drive anyone nuts.

* * *

**(A/N) P.S, sorry that this chapter is a little shorter than the others, I swear I'll make the next one longer ;D xxx**


	13. Jealousy

**(A/N) Okay, this update took longer than I expected...sorry! ;P Buuut, since I only have a week left at school before I leave (YESSS! FREEDOOOM!) updates will probably be a lot more quicker...I hope ;D**

**Anyhoo, as usual thank you to everyone who faved and followed, and also, thank you to _MrsMaynard, d112hpfan, kriscrable, Jewels47, karlskaye, All-Smiles1234, Lalina92, booklover1598, UnicornsLoveBananas97, cutter, CantCatchTomorrow _and _LollipopLucyxD _for reviewing! You're all so sweet! Thank you so much! I really appreciate you taking time to read and review this, so thank you! ;D**

**So, I hope you enjoy this chapter! Reviews and constructive criticism are welcomed! And if there are any mistakes please let me know ;P Enjooooy! **

* * *

Chapter 13 – Jealousy

* * *

A week had passed since the incident in detention with Paul.

A whole week, and I hadn't spoken to him since. Not even once. I mean, what are you _meant _to say to someone who attempted to kiss you, but then some evil bugger accidentally interrupted it? And to make matters worse, I'd actually ran away from him after the detention, despite him calling my name. What are you meant to say to that? Should I just walk up and say 'hi' and then hope for the best?

No. Of course not. I may not have been the most experienced in relationships and stuff like that, but that didn't mean I was completely oblivious to how awkward they could turn if something wasn't done right. For example, the kiss. Or the almost-kiss. I shouldn't have ran away from Paul. But I did. And now I was confused. I still liked him. In fact, I was slightly angry at the teacher for interrupting us. Maybe if we'd of kissed, it wouldn't be so awkward, like it is now.

...Okay, actually, it would've still been awkward. I mean, this is _me _we're talking about. The girl who was worried about her braces getting in the way of kissing. How do braces even get in the way? They're on my teeth! You don't kiss with your teeth! ...Or maybe you do, and I just don't know it.

...Nah.

Anyhoo, as I was saying, it'd been a week since the incident with Paul. And not once had I spoken to him. Actually, I hadn't spoken to Gemma in a while, either. She was still off with her fever, and to be honest, I was starting to suspect that she'd died or something. In fact, I'd even asked Allie today if Gemma was actually still alive, and much to my surprise, Allie had answered with an impatient 'yes'. After that question, however, Allie had turned rather cold and huffy. In fact, as we sat at the lunch table, nibbling on our food, an uncomfortable silence hung around us.

Well, at least it _was _silent. Up until Allie caught me glancing over at Paul, who, as per usual, sat with the rest of the La Push gang at their usual table, stuffing their faces with as much food as they could. Nice.

I was rather disappointed that Paul didn't send a single glance in my direction. In a way, I was kind of hoping to catch his eye. I _wanted _to talk to him, to discuss what had happened in detention. But, as I'd said before, it wasn't really something you could talk about very easily. In fact, it was rather awkward.

"Why don't you take a picture? It'll last longer," Allie had muttered grumpily, upon catching me staring at Paul for the umpteenth time. Her comment was rather unnecessary, I thought. I mean, clearly she was in a bad mood, but she didn't need to take it out on me. All I'd been doing was eating my food and staring at Paul. It wasn't affecting her in the slightest.

"You still like him, don't you?" She asked, after I failed to come up with a clever reply to her previous comment. I merely nodded, miserably. "I don't know why you like him. It's pointless. He won't like you back. And besides, he's a man whore. I mean, if he does _actually_ start liking you, he'll only be after you for sex,"

I strongly disliked Allie at that moment. The way she'd said it was as though she thought Paul was incapable of liking me. As though I was unworthy of him. But she was wrong. I may have been awkward and stupid and annoying and stuff, but Paul was (hopefully) capable of liking me. I mean, we'd almost kissed. Surely that was a sign that he sort of liked me, right? I smiled at the thought.

"What are you smiling at?" Allie asked, her tone rather savage. God, she was in a foul mood today. Clearly it was _someone's _time of month. And clearly _this _was an opportunity to prove her wrong. To prove to her that Paul actually was capable of liking me, and so, before I could stop myself, I decided to reveal all.

"You're wrong, y'know," I said, staring down at my plate of food, "He might like me back, you never know,"

"And what's that supposed to mean?" Allie glared over in Paul's direction, before returning her gaze to me. She looked rather suspicious. And annoyed.

"Well, in detention, he went to kiss me," I could feel my cheeks heating up as I thought about the incident. It would've been perfect if Mrs Culpepper hadn't of barged in and ruined it all, "But then Mrs Culpepper kind of ruined it and went all cock-block on us," Allie seemed in shock.

"So, you're telling me that you and Paul almost kissed? Really?" I nodded in reply. "Damn...he's moving quicker than I thought..."

"What?"

"Cora, you need to stay away from him from now on, okay?" Allie said, and I couldn't help but roll my eyes. I'd heard all this before, and to be honest, it was starting to get boring. Whatever Allie and Gemma had against Paul was ridiculous. There was nothing dangerous about him. He just had rather weird mood swings, that's all. There was no way that I was going to avoid him just because Allie and Gemma disliked him...though, to be honest, he seemed to be avoiding _me _recently.

"Allie, I'm not just going to ignore him. I like him. He's not bad, y'know. I mean, sure, he is a little bit weird, what with the naked walks in the forest, but other than that he's fine," I tried to smile reassuringly. I didn't want to lose my friends over this, but I didn't want to lose Paul either. "He's completely harmless, Allie. He just looks a bit scary, that's all,"

Allie merely shook her head, "Believe me, Cora, Paul is anything but harmless, but I suspect you'll find that out soon enough. If he's going for the kiss already, then I wouldn't be surprised if he told you his secret in the next few weeks,"

"Secret? What secret?" She had me so confused right now. What was so dangerous about Paul? And why couldn't she just tell me? Nothing was stopping her, right? If she wanted to protect me so much, why couldn't she just tell me what was so dangerous? It was all so stupid!

"Like I said, you'll find out soon enough," Allie said, before pausing. Slowly, a rather devious smirk appeared on her face, "Unless..." She looked towards the cafeteria doors, clearly pondering over something. Honestly. Why was everyone so damn secretive in La Push? It was more annoying than trying to poke the straw through the hole in those Capri Sun packets!

"Unless bloody what, woman!?" I asked, after a few seconds of complete and utter agonising silence. I just couldn't take it any longer!

"Look, Cora, if you were in trouble, you would want someone to help you, right?" Allie asked suddenly, ignoring my question completely. She looked a lot happier than she had done before. It confused me, but then again, when am I ever _not _confused.

"Well, yeah," I replied. The answer was obvious, really. I mean, surely anyone would want help if they were in trouble, right? Why wouldn't you want help? Nevertheless, I was still really confused. Especially when Allie suddenly jumped to her feet, her chair skidding backwards with a sharp screech. "Why? What's wrong? Where are you going?" I demanded, as she quickly heaved her bag onto her shoulder. She had a rather triumphant look on her face for some reason.

"I'm going to help you," Allie said, sending me a quick smug smile, before she turned round and started to hurry towards the exit of the cafeteria. By then I was pretty confused, and I was also extremely fed up with all the secrecy. I _needed _to know what was going on. If it involved me, then it was my business, and yet, no one could be bothered to even explain to me what was happening. It was so frustrating! I felt like turning into the hulk and just smashing the place up, I was _that _annoyed. But, of course, green wasn't really my colour, so I refrained from doing so.

"Oi! Hang on a minute!" I yelled, jumping out of my chair and grabbing my bag. I'd had enough. I was going to go after Allie and I was going to demand an explanation. I mean, I was pretty distraught at the fact that I had to abandon my half-eaten tray of food, but this was more important right now. I _needed _to be in the know. "Oi! Allie! Wait up!"

Despite my calls, Allie simply ignored me, and by the time I'd started to move, she was already out of the cafeteria. I wasn't about to let her get away, though. This was a matter of life and death.

...Okay, maybe it wasn't. But I still wanted to know what was going on.

However, upon exiting the cafeteria, I realized that catching up with Allie was going to be a lot harder than I thought. By the time I'd stepped out into the hallway, she was gone. Poof. Vanished. In fact, the hallway was pretty much empty. Apart from Logan, who was currently approaching me with a large, goofy grin on his face.

"Hey Cora! What'cha doing?" He asked, upon stopping in front of me. I merely shrugged. I honestly couldn't be bothered with telling him about how Allie was being weird and how I'd been forced to abandon my poor, poor food in hopes of finding Allie. "Okay, cool, how about we go get some fries then?"

Oh, God. Fries. How I regretted leaving my food all sad and alone in the cafeteria. Still, I needed to find Allie, and I couldn't just sit around stuffing my mouth full of food all day, as nice as it sounded.

"I'm sorry, I'm kinda busy,"

"What?" Logan demanded, his face resembling that of a sad puppy. God, he was killing me here. I really wanted some fries. I did. Honest. But I just couldn't. "But we're chip buddies..." Okay, that made me laugh. Not only because he'd used the British word for fries, but also because of the sad pout on his face.

Bless him and his chips.

"As much as I enjoy being your chip buddy...erm...buddy, I really have to go find Allie," I smiled sheepishly, "Did you see where she went?" Logan merely shook his head.

"Nope, sorry," He shrugged in a helpless manner, before he quickly brushed past me, "But I'd better be off. I'm going to go eat my fries all by myself because my chip buddy has abandoned me," He said, sending me a quick grin over his shoulder before he disappeared into the cafeteria.

Chip buddy. Ha! That was funny!

Still, I didn't really have time to contemplate over my new chip buddy. I needed to find Allie. But where could she be? I sighed, and began to wander down the hallway, knowing that I probably had no hope in hell of finding her. God, why'd she have to run off?

However, after wandering the halls for a good five minutes, luck finally came my way.

Upon rounding the corner at the very end of the hallway, I finally bumped into someone. Only it wasn't Allie. It was Amber...or blondie or whatever. And she didn't look too happy. In fact, her eyes were watering and she looked as though she were about to burst into tears. She also looked as though she'd been roughed up a little, what with her hair sticking up, and the large, red mark on her cheek that looked as though it were starting to bruise. Poor git. I was about to ask her what was wrong, but she interrupted me with two words.

"I'm sorry."

That was it. She ran after that. And I had no idea what was going on. The way she'd said it...she had sounded so guilty. And she looked pretty guilty too, as well as a little beaten up. What in the name of Jesus' beard had happened to her? And why was she apologising to me? She hadn't done anything, right? I turned round and stared after her, feeling pretty confused, and slightly worried. Whatever had happened to her must have been pretty serious, but what on earth had she meant?

"Hey, fancy seeing you here,"

"I CONFESS! IT WAS ME!" I screeched, before I could stop myself. I had no idea what I was doing or saying. I mean, I was so confused, I just didn't know what I was doing. Which was why, as soon as I had finished screaming my head off, I had span round, and accidentally punched someone in the face.

That someone was Allie. And she did _not _look happy. In fact, she seemed to be shaking with anger. I didn't blame her though, if someone had punched _me _in the face I would've have been pretty angry too. That or I would have been lying on the ground crying my eyes out. Yeah, that sounds about right.

"...Erm...sorry?" I tried, hoping and praying that she wasn't about to beat me up or anything. She currently looked like she was about to explode, what with all the shaking.

"You just punched me." Allie said, and if the situation wasn't so serious, I probably would have went 'duuuuuh'. Thankfully, though, I didn't. Instead, I just stood there, staring at her in a terrified manner. She definitely wasn't calming down. "You punched me," She repeated, seemingly in shock. I admit, I was pretty shocked myself. I didn't know I had it in me.

Thankfully, though, after a few more seconds of staring at each other in shock, she stopped shaking. This made me even more shocked. For a moment I'd actually thought she was going to punch me or something. Instead, however, she merely smiled. It was quite scary actually. She looked so cheerful. Much happier than I'd ever seen her before.

"Y'know what, don't worry about it," Allie stated, her smile growing even wider somehow. Something was wrong. Why was she so happy all of a sudden? Maybe I'd punched her a little too hard, and maybe now her brain was all funny or something. "It's fine, Cora. In fact, _everything _is fine," I didn't like the way she said that. 'Everything is fine', it was as though it had some sort of double meaning. I didn't know what she had done, but whatever it was, I doubted it was good. The way she smiled, the way she said it. Nothing good was going to come out of this. At least not for me.

"_What's_ fine?" I asked, narrowing my eyes suspiciously. I was honestly sick of all these bloody secrets. Allie merely smiled in that usual annoying manner, which clearly indicated that she knew something I didn't.

"You'll find out soon enough,"

And with that, she was off again. Though, this time she had a valid reason for running off. The reason? The bell for last lesson had finally rang, and everyone began rushing about to get to their lessons, including me. I didn't want any more detentions, and so I wasn't about to risk being late, especially since my next lesson was Math, and the teacher, Mrs Chambers, still hated me since the incident where I'd asked her if she was pregnant. It turned out that instead of being pregnant, she was just a bit chubby around the stomach area. Whoops.

Anyhoo, since I doubted that Allie was going to tell me what was going on, I decided, as I began to head to Math class, that it was about time I paid Gemma a visit. Though I highly doubted Gemma would tell me what this whole big secret thingy was, it was worth a try, right? And besides, it had been quite a while since I'd last saw her. I just wanted to make sure she wasn't dead or anything.

* * *

An hour later, and I was relieved to finally be leaving school.

After an hour of enduring angry glares from my Math teacher, I was glad to finally be able to head home. Well, first I had to visit Gemma, but that wouldn't be so bad. I just hoped that this illness of hers wasn't contagious or anything. That would be bad.

Still, Gemma's fever was the least of my worries as I exited the school, and stepped into the car park, my eyes immediately landing on something that I honestly did _not _want to see.

And no, I'm not talking about naked Paul. I actually wouldn't mind seeing that.

No, what _I _was talking about was the fact that on the opposite side of the car park, near the school gates, Paul stood with another girl. Amber, to be precise. And to me, they looked like they were having a lot of fun. In fact, blondie had even gone as far as resting her hand upon Paul's arm. Was she flirting with him?

Narrowing my eyes, I started to walk in their direction. Of course, I wasn't going to actually go up and talk to them, but in order to leave the school I was going to have to pass them. That, and I was half-hoping to catch what they were saying as I passed them by.

However, mission get-closer-and-listen-to-what-they're-saying-becau se-I'm-a-nosy-git soon came to an abrupt end. And all because of Allie. I felt like punching her again. Not only was I tired, and annoyed, but I was also jealous. Not the greatest combination, right?

Anyhoo, upon drawing closer to Paul and Amber, Allie had suddenly popped up out of nowhere, with a large, smug grin on her face, "Oh, hey Cora," She said, her eyes following my gaze, "What are you staring at?" She knew what I was staring at. Why was she asking? Was she here to rub in my face the fact that Paul was currently flirting with Amber?

"Oh, is that Paul and Amber? They look like they're enjoying themselves,"

Yes. Yes she was here to rub it in my face. Great.

Instead of replying, I merely turned to face her, with a rather exasperated look on my face. It pleased me to think that earlier I had punched her. The smug git.

"Apparently Paul likes her, y'know. I heard people talking about it after lunch," Okay, still rubbing it in my face. But that's fine. I was going to be the better person. I was going to rise above all her teasing and smugness. I was not going to snap. "See? I told you he wouldn't like you,"

"Yeah? Well, _you_ have a MOUSTACHE!"

Okay. I snapped. And everyone around me knew it. Not only did I gain the attention of the innocent bystanders who just wanted to get home, but I'd also gained the attention of blondie and Paul. Paul's face was pretty much expressionless, but Amber, well, she looked rather sad. No, wait, not sad. I'd say more guilty. In fact, she even gave me a weak, sympathetic smile, which I found pretty odd. Why was she looking at me like that? And...hang on. Hadn't Allie and Gemma said that she was insanely shy when it came to Paul? Why had she all of a sudden gotten the courage to talk to him? Wait...hadn't she been crying at lunch today? I'd bumped into her when rounding the corner on my mission to find Allie. In fact, Allie had been pretty much standing a few seconds away. Maybe Allie had something to do with Amber being upset? Though, to be honest, I didn't know why I was so concerned right now. I should've been angry. I mean, Paul and I had almost kissed, and now he was flirting with Amber. Or Amber was flirting with him. God, I don't know. All I knew was that I was practically green with envy. Clearly, Paul didn't like me in that way. Allie was right.

And maybe she'd been right when she said he was a 'man-whore'? Maybe he was just playing with me. I mean, why would he like me? I was nothing special? I was just the weird girl who went round shouting at her 'friends' for having a moustache. Wait, did Allie even have a moustache? I'm pretty sure she didn't.

Speaking of Allie, she was now storming off towards the gates. Clearly she was not very pleased with me. I mean, if someone had accused _me _of having a moustache, I wouldn't have been very pleased either, but she did bring it upon herself. I mean, she didn't need to be so smug about the Paul situation.

God...stupid Allie...stupid Amber...

...And stupid bloody Paul, too.


	14. I Reject My Rejection!

**(A/N) So, I've been aiming to update once a week, but again, I failed ;P I'm really, really sorry! BUT, I have finally left school, and I've only got 3 exams left, so updates _should _be more regular now! I hope! ;P Ah...it's so nice not having to get up at 6am every morning now ;3**

**Anyways, thank you to everyone who followed and favourited! I really appreciate it ;3 And thank you tooooo U_nknown Ghost, booklover1598, awesomeami316, LollipopLucyxD, NobleAndAncientLineBlack, WickedySplit, Jewels47, leMe, Lalina92, UnicornsLoveBananas97, Fire and Ice 22 _and_ CantCatchTomorrow _for reviewing! You're reviews are all so nice! So thank you so much! ;3  
**

**As usual constructive criticism is welcomed! **

**Oh, and sorry for using the word 'anyhoo' too much, I didn't realize it until someone pointed it out! So thanks for telling me! I can see how it could get annoying after a while ^^; **

**Enjoooy! ;P**

* * *

Chapter 14 – I Reject My Rejection!

* * *

Sunday.

I loved Sundays, but also, I hated them. Mainly due to the fact that though Sundays were usually relaxing for me, the thought of having to go back to school the next day was constantly on my mind. God...I hated school. I had no friends now, and a lot of the teachers hated me, and then on top of that, there was the problem with Paul.

Speaking of Paul, he was in my room when I woke up.

Yes. He was _actually _in my room, as weird as that sounds. I mean, how he got in, I had no idea. However, I wasn't really concerned about that when I first woke up. I was more occupied with the fact that there was someone in my room, and immediately, before I could quite comprehend what I was doing or who was in my room, I screamed. Or, I tried to scream, anyways. Though, due to a large, hot hand clamping over my mouth, the scream turned out to be a muffled 'meh'.

It was after that did I finally realise it was actually Paul. He was in my room. In _my _room. What the hell was he doing here? Had my mother let him in or something? Or had he somehow broke in? Either way, I was not happy. I still hadn't forgiven him for playing with my feelings. The git.

"Don't scream!" Paul warned in a hushed tone, upon clamping his hand down on my mouth. At least this time he was more gentle, not like the last time when he almost knocked my teeth out when slamming his hand over my mouth. Still, I didn't care about that. I was more concerned with the fact he'd somehow broken into my house.

"What are you doing here!? You're not here to try steal my food again, are you!?" I hissed, before turning over to glance at the clock that lay on my bedside table. It was only 8AM. Was he serious? Sundays were my lie-in days! Not my get-up-early-because-there's-a-hot-boy-whom-you-ar e-currently-very-angry-with-in-your-house day! God, what was he thinking?

"I needed to tell you something," Paul merely replied in a casual manner, as though breaking into someone's house was a normal, everyday thing. Well, maybe it was. What do I know?

"_Well?" _

"What?" Paul asked, shrugging before his eyes suddenly found their way to the sweet jar which lay on my bedside table. He eyed them greedily. He _wouldn't. _

Oh, he _would. _

Before I could stop him, he'd quickly grabbed the jar of sweet from the bedside table with a large, triumphant smirk on his face. The greedy pig! Those were _my _sweets he was stealing! _Mine! _Still, I was far too tired to fight him for them, after all, I _had _been so rudely woken up only a few moments ago. Bloody git.

"So, what was it you needed to tell me then?" I asked in an impatient manner, as Paul got busy on eating my bloody sweets. First he led me on, and then he ate my sweets. _Not_ cool. Not cool at all.

"Oh, yeah, there's this thing I need to tell you, but apparently I need to take things 'slowly' or whatever," Paul started through a mouthful of chewy candy, rolling his eyes. "I mean, I originally was just gonna come out and tell you everything, y'know, no messing around, but apparently Sam said I should take it slowly. Maybe he thinks you're a wimp and can't handle it or whatever, I dunno," And with that, he merely shrugged again, before shoving another few sweets into his mouth.

"Sam?" I was kind of confused. I'm sure Allie had mentioned Sam before. Something about him being the sort of 'leader' of the La Push gang. Wait...what did he want Paul to take slowly?

"Yeah, and then I was talking to that blonde chick-" At this I snorted, rolling my eyes in a huffy manner as I leant back against the headboard of my bed. Yep. He was talking about Amber. Was he going to reveal to me that he'd been playing me all along perhaps?

"Of course you were," I muttered, crossing my arms over my chest as I glared grumpily down at the blanket covering my legs. Stupid Amber. Stupid Paul. And stupid bloody jealousy.

Paul seemed to notice how I was feeling, and instead of being nice, and apologising for playing me, he smirked cockily. Yup. God, it was near impossible to stop myself from grabbing the bloody sweet jar and smashing it over his head.

"You're jealous," He stated, in a smug manner, his smirk turning into a broad grin, "Don't worry, Cora, if I were you, I would be jealous of me too. I mean, look at me," He said, whilst proceeding to place another handful of sweets into his mouth.

...I honestly couldn't tell whether he was being serious or not. But to be honest, that didn't really matter to me anymore. I just wanted him out of my room...and away from my sweets, too!

"Just shut up," I muttered, throwing the blanket over my head. I so wanted to punch Paul there and then, but I doubt it would've done much. Besides, I've never really been one for violence, despite my...erm...y'know, _violent _thoughts.

"Aw, c'mon, I'm just kidding! Anyways, what was I saying before?" Paul paused for a moment, "Ah, yeah, I was talking to that blonde chick. She was being all weird. She kept saying stuff about Allie, and how she made her talk, and then..." Paul suddenly began to smirk again, though this time it was a lot more smug. Whatever he was about to tell me was clearly good news to him, "Blondie mentioned something about you liking me,"

...

...

..._What?_ How? Oh my God...

WHYYYYYYYYYYYYY? Why did she do that? And how did she even know? Wait...Paul had mentioned Allie...ALLIE HAD TOLD AMBER! That fudging moustache girl! I was so going to kill Allie when I next saw her.

...Well, maybe I wouldn't _kill _her. More like throw subtle glares in her direction or whatever.

Oh God. So did that mean that this thing Paul wanted to tell me about was actually his way of saying he was about to laugh in my face and reject my feelings and tell everyone and tease me for life? ...Darn it.

I quickly glanced up at Paul, only to find he was still smirking in that smug manner. God...I suppose I'd better start bracing myself for what would most likely be another sad, sad rejection in life. God _clearly_ hated me.

"So?" I asked, adding in a depressed little sigh, "Let's just get this over with...what was it you wanted to tell me?" This was it. The moment of rejection. I'd been rejected plenty of times in life, and it looked like this was going to be another one of those times. God. Why me?

"I like you,"

"_**WHAT?" **_Okay, yes, that loud screech was me. But, I mean, come on, what else was I supposed to say. Paul had just told me he liked me. Me! What happened to the rejection? He was supposed to reject me! ...Why wasn't he rejecting me? What the hell was going on? Was I still asleep? Was I _dead? _Maybe those wolves had finally killed me? Or maybe, Paul was playing a rather cruel and heartless joke on me? That was definitely a possibility. I mean, why would he like me? I'm weird, annoying, socially awkward and totally unable to hold a normal conversation for longer than 10 seconds. Of course he was messing around. Paul would never like me. Never. Maybe Allie had told him to do this? As payback of me saying she had a moustache? Or maybe his friends dared him to do it? Either way, it wasn't a very nice thing to do.

"I said, I like you," Paul said in response to my loud outburst. By now, his smirk had faded a little. In fact, he may have started to look a little bit unsure. But honestly, what was I supposed to say? I could either be happy, and end up getting humiliated due to the fact that this whole thing was most likely just some sick prank, or I could shout at him for being a heartless, cruel piece of fudge..._or, _I could just remain silent.

And that's exactly what I did. I chose the latter. Remained silent. I mean, what else could I do? I didn't have many options, and I certainly wasn't willing to let myself be completely and utterly humiliated by going along with this stupid prank. Why would I? Why would _anyone?_

As both Paul and I sat there awkwardly staring at each other, he finally decided to react. Only...it wasn't really the reaction I'd been expecting. I'd thought he would've just shrugged it off and go back to being the same old Paul he always was. However, what I hadn't expected was for him to look so...so...well, _sad. _In fact, I don't think sad was even an appropriate word for how he currently looked, he looked completely distraught. And that was when I realised...maybe he wasn't messing around?

Maybe he actually liked me?

Oh, God, what had I done? The guy who I had a massive crush on had just confessed to me, and I'd basically just gone and rejected him by staying all silent and cold. Why me? _Why!?_

God, no. I had to tell him I liked him back! I had to tell him that what Amber had said was true, and that I did like him! But how? I mean, it was a bit late for that now right? I'd wasted too much time thinking the whole thing over, and besides, how was I supposed to tell him? Was I to just come out and say it like he did? That would probably be the smartest thing to do. But this is _me _we're talking about. I just couldn't come out and tell him now. That just wasn't me.

God, I'm an idiot.

"Well," Paul suddenly spoke up, coughing in an offhanded manner, as though to try ease the tension. It didn't work. "I...uh...I should be getting back...Sam probably wants to see me...uh..." He smiled at me, (though to be honest, it looked like more of a grimace) before slowly getting off my bed.

I felt bad. I'd never seen Paul act like this before. I mean, there was no trace of his usual cocky self, instead, he'd been replaced by...well, I don't know what. He just didn't seem right, though, to be honest, I'd be the same if someone whom I thought liked me just rejected me like that. I felt so guilty. Yet, I could've stopped Paul then and there to tell him that I did actually like him, only I was too scared. There was still that little feeling inside of me, telling me that a guy like Paul would _never _be attracted to a girl like me.

"I guess I'll...uh...see you around then," And with that he was gone. He'd just walked over to window and climbed out. Normally, I would've probably been in awe if someone had jumped out of my window like that (if I was to try something like that, I'd probably end up breaking my face) but I was far too...well..._upset, _I suppose. I was upset at the fact that Paul may have actually been telling the truth about liking me back, and I'd just gone and rejected him. I was upset at the fact that there was also a chance (though this seemed to be less than likely now) that Paul had been lying to me, and had just been playing with my feelings. And also, I was hurt. Hurt at the fact that Allie had actually told Amber about my crush. I mean, seriously, why did she feel the need to do that? She'd made Amber talk to Paul in order to make me jealous and hate him. Why though?

God...I felt so confused. I needed to try figure everything out. No. Wait...

I needed to confront Allie.

* * *

I was halfway to Allie's house when I started to realize what I was doing. And boy, was I scared, but, I was also determined. I needed answers. I needed to know why Allie had done this. And then I needed to go and find Paul, but I would worry about that later, because for now, I needed to figure out what I was going to say to Allie, and what I was going to do if she freaked out and suddenly punched me in the face.

I'd probably cry to be honest.

It was then, as that thought passed through my mind, that I spotted Logan. And he was crying. What a coincidence, am I right? Wait...he was crying...why was he crying? Why was my chip buddy upset?

"Um...Hi...Logan..." I said, smiling awkwardly as I walked up to him. I'd never been good at cheering people up. I mean, usually I'd try to tell them a joke or something, but then they'd cry even harder...so...yeah... "What's up? I mean...er...what's wrong?"

"G-Gemma broke up with me," Logan muttered, staring down at the ground as though trying to hide the fact he was crying. God, I felt so bad for him, "I went to go see her and s-she just broke up with me. She didn't even explain anything," He wiped his eyes with the back of his hands. Okay. Gemma had dumped Logan. What was I supposed to do? Hug him?

"Um...want a cheer up hug?" I held my arms out, my smile turning even more awkward. Thankfully, though, Logan didn't seem too phased at my failed attempts to cheer him up. In fact, he actually seemed to _appreciate_ my attempts, as he immediately dove into my arms, hiding his face into my shoulder. The poor bloke. It was strange seeing him so upset. But what was I meant to do now? "Erm...there, there...? It's...er...it's going to be alright...I think..."

Logan just continued to sob, "W-why would she do that? I-I thought everything was o-okay?" God. I felt so bad for him now. But why had Gemma dumped him? They always seemed so loved up. I mean, sure, I hadn't seen them together in a while, but that was because Gemma was ill. What had happened?

"Look...if you want I could go talk to her or something? Would that make you feel better?" I asked. Logan at least deserved a reason for their sudden break-up, right? I mean, the poor guy seemed absolutely heart-broken. "I mean, I don't know if it'd do much but..."

"I-I'd appreciate that...thanks, Cora," Logan sniffled, as finally he stopped hugging me. I mean, it's not as if I minded hugging him, as to be honest, I considered him a friend now, it's just, I dunno...I'm not that used to hugging people. "I think I n-need to go home..."

I nodded in reply, "Yeah, that'd be a good idea," Poor kid, he probably needed to sleep it off or perhaps eat some food. Food was always good at cheering people up. "I'll go talk to Gemma for you. You just go home and...stuff," And with that, I flashed him what I hoped was a reassuring smile. Bless him; he looked so downtrodden as he gave me one last gloomy nod before deciding to head home. But then again, I would probably be the same if I was in that situation. Still, I didn't have time to stand there feeling sorry for him as he trailed off home. I now had to not only confront Allie, but I also had to confront Gemma, and to be honest, I was more concerned with talking to Gemma now. I mean, she and Logan had seemed so happy together, they were always so loved up. What had happened? Perhaps due to her fever or whatever it was she had, she hadn't seen him as much, and maybe it took a toll on the relationship?

Meh. I don't know. Relationships aren't really my area of expertise, however, I had told Logan I would talk to Gemma, and so I would. My chip buddy at least deserved an explanation for the sudden break up. Luckily, Gemma's house was closer than Allie's was, and so I didn't have to walk very far to get to her house. However, upon knocking on the door, I noticed that the house looked rather...empty. Well, not empty as in no one lived there; just empty as in it looked like no one was home. But Gemma had to be home, right? Logan had just been here. Besides, she was ill, right? She couldn't really go out if she was ill, though, to be honest, I was starting to suspect that she wasn't actually sick.

"Helloooo? Gemmaaaa? You in?" I called, whilst rapping my fist on the wooden door a few more times. No one answered. Maybe Gemma was at Allie's or something? I was about to start heading to Allie's when something caught my attention.

There was someone in the trees.

I could see them out the corner of my eye, and whoever it was, well, they were watching me. And not only that, they kind of looked familiar, even though I couldn't really see their face properly. Wait...was that- "_Gemma?_" I called, stepping cautiously towards the figure. They didn't react. They merely stood there on the spot, not moving an inch. "Gemma, is that you?" I asked again. It had to be her. I mean, sure there was a dark shadow covering their face, but as I squinted carefully at them, they did look a lot like Gemma. What was she doing in the trees?

"Gemma, I need to talk to you. It's about Logan, he-"At the mention of Logan, Gemma, or at least I _think _it was Gemma, suddenly moved. They began to slowly back away further into the shadows, before swiftly turning round and sprinting off. I would've followed them if it weren't for the fact that I'm lazy. I mean, there was no way I was just going to sprint after some random person, besides, they'd ran off at a pretty fast pace. Even if I had decided to chase after them, the chances of me actually catching them were pretty slim.

"What is it with everyone running nowadays? Honestly..." I huffed, crossing my arms over my chest. It was absolutely ridiculous. Hadn't anyone in La Push ever heard of _walking? _"Guess I should go find moustache girl instead, then," I muttered, casting one last annoyed glance into the trees, half-hoping to see Gemma or whoever that was (I was convinced it was Gemma) again. However, upon seeing no one, I turned round, deciding that it was about time I confronted Allie. Only, the confrontation never happened.

Upon arriving at Allie's house a few minutes later (luckily she lived quite near to Gemma) I knocked on the door, only to find that _again _no one was in. It's just my luck, I suppose. Whenever I _do _want to talk to people, they're never in. Typical.

"What do _you _want?" Okay, never mind, someone _was_ in. Well, not necessarily _in. _More like hanging outside in the trees like a weirdo.

Turning round I came face to face with Allie.

She looked rather...well...rough, I noticed. Her hair was sticking up in all directions, and she was panting rather heavily as though she'd been running, and her feet, I noticed, were bare. Why wasn't she wearing any shoes? And why had she been hanging round in the trees? Did this mean that shadowy person had been her? No...no, it couldn't have been. Allie looked a lot bigger than that shadowy figure had. It definitely had not been her.

"I needed to ask you something," I started, taking a deep breath. I was about to speak again, but something caught my eye. On the back of her hand, a large, deep cut was present on her skin. What the hell had happened to her? I glanced back at her face. Had she been beat up or something? She didn't look bruised or anything like that, though it would explain why her hair was all sticking up. Maybe whoever had beaten her up had stolen her shoes too...for whatever reason? Maybe the person who'd attacked her just really loved shoes? I bit my lip thoughtfully, my eyes trailing back down to the cut on her hand.

Only, it wasn't there anymore.

_What?_

I must've been seeing things. No, wait, I was _sure _there'd been a cut on her hand, and big cuts like that don't just disappear in a matter of seconds. No cuts do...what the hell was going on? This whole thing was just starting to terrify me. First there had been some creepy shadowy figure watching me, who may or may not have been Gemma, and now deep wounds were just disappearing from people's skin in a matter of mere seconds. Now that is just plain creepy. Something was going on here, and whatever it was, it was really starting to scare me. _What was wrong with this place?_

"Y-Y'know what, it doesn't matter...I should really get going," I muttered, slowly starting to back away, my eyes glancing at Allie's hand, before travelling back up to her face. She looked suspicious of me. As though she knew that I suspected something was up. Maybe whatever this big secret she'd been going on about for ages was finally about to come out? Only, now that I thought about it, I really didn't want to know.

Not anymore.

Whatever this secret was, it wasn't normal.


	15. She Ain't Dead Yet!

**(A/N) Okay, I'm sorry for taking so long with this chapter but it was difficult to write . And because of how difficult it was to write, I'm kind of unsure on how this turned out, so sorry if it's a little disappointing...I'm going to read over it again in a few days and decide then if I'm going to change it or not, what do you guys think?**

**On a better note, I'm finally 16! My birthday was on Thursday and I feel so old now, even though I'm still really young ;P Plus I only have 3 exams left (I have a history one tomorrow, and I really _should _be revising right now) so updates will most likely be quicker, considering after tomorrow I'll only have 2 math exams left, and I'm not revising for them 'cos I've already got a C and the odds of me getting a B are a big fat zero ;P**

**Anyways, as usual thank you to _Lalina92, MrsMaynard, booklover1598, Unknown Ghost, All-Smiles1234, kriscrable, NobleAndAncientLineBlack, UnicornsLoveBananas97, LollipopLucyxD, akagami hime chan, iluvpyros _and also to the guest for reviewing! Thanks so much! You guys really motivate me! _  
_**

**So, I hope you enjoy this chapter, I'm sorry if it's a bit...meh. Constructive criticism is welcomed and also if there are any mistakes please let me know! ;3**

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Chapter 15 – She Ain't Dead Yet

* * *

Paul wasn't in school today. Allie wasn't either. Nor was Gemma. Even Logan was off sick, and that left me pretty much alone for the whole day. Well, not really for the whole day. I mean, I pretty much expected to just be sat all alone at lunch with no one to talk to whilst miserably eating my food, but no, that wasn't the case.

It was when I was halfway through my lunch did someone come sit with me, and that _someone _was no one other than Amber. I didn't really know how to react to this, though. Even though it seemed to be all Allie's fault about the whole Amber and Paul situation, I was still a bit unsure on what was going on. What could Allie have _possibly_ said to make Amber work up the courage to _finally _speak to Paul? I just didn't get it.

"Um...can I sit here?" Amber had asked, as she stood awkwardly at the chair across from mine. In response, I both shrugged and nodded, which, in the end, probably made me look like I was having some fit. I didn't care though, I was too busy brooding over my rejection towards Paul yesterday, and I had been doing so all day. It was impossible for me _not _to think about it.

"L-Look...I just wanted to explain some things about...y'know..." Amber started, throwing a nervous smile at me. Why was she nervous? It wasn't as though I was going to jump across the table in an attempt to strangle her. Besides, I wasn't sure if I was even _mad _at her...I was more...uncertain. "I've been feeling bad about it ever since Friday, but I want you to know that I never would have done it if it weren't for Allie!"

...What? Was blondie high or something? What was she on about?

I stared at her in confusion, "Um...Are you _sure_ you're talking to the right person?" Amber nodded in reply. "Are you sure? 'Cos I honestly have no idea what's going on here..."

"Oh, right! Well, on Friday, I'm just gonna assume you saw me talking to Paul-"

"I did,"

"R-right...well, you know how earlier on before than you bumped into me when I was crying?" Amber asked. I nodded. "Well, it was Allie...she threatened me. She said I had to talk to Paul in front of you or something to make it seem like he liked me and not you...s-she said if I didn't she would tear me apart. And, I don't know if you noticed but she's pretty buff...I'm pretty sure she would have no problem tearing _me _apart..." Okay, Amber had a pretty good point. And what she had said did kind of add up in a way. Allie had seemed so annoyed when I'd told her that Paul and I had almost kissed...and then hadn't she started talking about me wanting help if I was in trouble? Did that mean Paul was trouble? She had warned me away from him, hadn't she? Wait...the secret she'd been going on about...did this mean it involved Paul? Allie had said that Paul was 'far from harmless', right? Maybe Allie was just trying to protect me...though, to be honest, I failed to see how Paul would cause me harm. Surely if he was so dangerous, as Allie kept putting it, he would have done something by now, right?

"What are you thinking about?" Amber's voice said, suddenly breaking through my thoughts. I merely shrugged.

"I'm just confused a bit..."

Amber bit her lip hesitantly, before speaking again, "Look, Cora, I don't know if I should tell you this...I mean, it's kind of mean of me just telling other peoples secrets, but...Paul likes you...I'm sure of it..." My frown deepened at this. As much as I loved the fact that Paul most likely liked me, I couldn't help but remember what had happened yesterday. It only made me feel more guilty. "I think you should confess to him." Amber smiled.

"But what about you? I thought you liked him too? That's what Allie and Gemma told me, anyways,"

"Well, I did...but it's kind of hopeless...I mean, he so obviously likes you. I think it's time I just kind of moved on and liked someone else, y'know?" Amber sighed, though a smile was still present on her face. "Besides, you guys would make a cute couple! The weird girl and the bad boy...it just would be so adorable!" Okay, she was starting to turn into a squealing fan girl, but to be honest, I didn't mind. In a way, it was rather endearing to see someone actually supporting Paul and me, rather than constantly trying to warn me away from him like Allie did. I liked it.

"I'm sorry about everything that happened, by the way," Amber piped up. She seemed a lot more cheerful now. "Y'know, about the Allie thing. I was just so scared. I mean, she's a scary dude...and I'm just a wimp. But I honestly think you should just go confess to Paul! It'll be so funny if you guys start dating! Allie will be so angry!" And with that, she giggled. I have to admit, I kind of like Amber, she's nice.

I bit my lip, quickly glancing over at the La Push gangs table. It was empty. "Y'know what," I stood up from my chair, a large smile on my face. I had never felt so brave in my life, "I will!"

"Ooh! Good! Can I come? Y'know, to offer support or whatever?" Amber asked, looking rather excited. Bless her. I might have to ask Logan if she can become the third chip buddy.

"Yeah! Let's go!" And with that I ran (yes, I actually properly ran for once) out of the cafeteria, with Amber hot on my heels. This was it! I don't know how I'd worked up the courage to do this, but who cares? I was on a mission! A mission to confess to Paul without being awkward or weird. And I had Amber to help me!

Or at least I _did. _But then, upon arriving at the main entrance (or exit in my case), we found that it was raining. And not just normal, drizzly rain. It was absolutely _chucking _it down. In fact, I would probably drown if I went outside in it. Nevertheless, I was determined. I just wish I could say the same about Amber.

"Um...y'know...it looks kind of cold out there...and I don't have a coat..." Neither did I, but that wasn't about to stop me. Amber bit her lip, "I think it might be best if I just stay here...and keep guard..." Keep guard? Of what!? Honestly...

Well, looks like I was on my own. Shaking my head, I took a deep breath and ran out into the pouring rain. Only it started to hail stone as soon as I stepped foot outside. Now, I've said it plenty of times before, but I'll say it again. God _clearly _hated me.

"OW! FUDGE! SUGAR! OW! BLOOOODY HEEELL!" I screeched, sprinting towards the gates leading out of the car park, _**"IT'S BLOODY FREEEEEZING!"**_

"Good luck!" I heard Amber yell, as I dashed through the gates, my hair sticking to my face. I was already soaked through to the bone, but I didn't care. I just needed to find Paul.

* * *

I hate the rain.

_Especially _when you have spend over half an hour sprinting round in it like a lunatic, looking for some stupid boy who you need to confess your feelings to.

Finally, though, I had found him.

On the top of the cliff where everyone goes to cliff dive was Paul...and the La Push gang. God...was I really going to have to confess in front of _them? _Now, _that _would be pretty embarrassing. And awkward. But if they insisted on hanging around whilst I confessed my feelings to Paul and apologised for being an idiot and not responding to _his _confession then so be it!

With one last determined look, I began sprinting towards the bloody cliff. I was hoping to get there before he jumped off, and thankfully, the La Push gang all seemed to be dawdling. Maybe they were having second thoughts about going cliff-diving in the rain? After all, it was a rather stupid idea, right? I mean, _who _goes cliff-diving in the rain? Seriously? They should have been at school (I should've been too), not _throwing _themselves off cliffs.

Anyhoo, I was getting pretty darn tired with all this running about, and it wasn't until I was about halfway up the stupid cliff did I realise this. Not only did I realise that, though, I also realised that I currently looked like a drowned rat. My hair was sticking to my face, my teeth wouldn't stop chattering and in all honesty, I looked like I'd been dragged through a bush and then ran over with a lorry. And yet, despite my not-very-presentable appearance, I was still determined to confess my feelings to Paul. I _must_ be mad.

Now, I'm pretty sure you can imagine how relieved I felt upon finally reaching the top of the cliff, however, that feeling of relief soon disappeared as I noticed Paul was now standing at the very edge of the cliff, getting ready to jump. It had appeared that a few of the others had gone before him, and only three remained. I needed to stop him. I wasn't about to let my agonising trek up this bloody cliff go to waste. I needed to tell him, and I needed to tell him now.

"PAUL I LIKE YOU!"

Okay... perhaps that wasn't the best way to confess to someone, but to be fair, I wasn't really thinking straight. I was far too tired and cold and my body was aching. "Now leave me alone to die," I said, before throwing myself down onto the ground, gasping for breath, and ignoring the loud whoops and cheers coming from the two boys who hadn't yet jumped. I didn't care; I was too busy trying to gain back the ability to breathe. I'd never ran so much in my entire life.

As I lay there on my back, staring up at the sky, Paul's expressionless face suddenly came into view, as he stood there, staring down at me.

"What?" I wheezed, narrowing my eyes as I scrutinized his face. "Didn't you just hear me?"

"I think everybody heard you," I heard someone say. That's when the embarrassment started to kick in, and I started to wish that the ground would just swallow me up.

"Shut up Quil," Paul growled, throwing an annoyed glare at said boy.

I glared over at him too, "Yeah, shut up, Quil,"

Quil merely shrugged, though on his face he wore a cheerful grin. Clearly he was enjoying this whole situation. I wasn't. However, I was very thankful when he turned round and dived off the cliff, the other boy soon following him. It was just Paul and I now.

"Why didn't you say anything yesterday?" He asked, still staring down at me, his face expressionless. I shrugged.

"I was confused..."

"Why?" Paul asked, sighing heavily before sitting down on the wet grass beside me. I tried to sit up too, only my body still ached from running so much, so I gave up.

"Because I thought you were just trying to prank me or something. It's not really normal for guys to like me," I said, closing my eyes. "But then I realised you weren't, and I felt kind of bad but I was too scared to say anything,"

Paul was silent for a moment or two, before, "Why would you think I was joking?" God. Why was he asking me this? Couldn't he just accept my confession? That would make things so much easier. Besides, how was I meant to answer that?

"I dunno...I just did,"

"I would never joke about anything like that," Paul declared, sounding annoyed. I couldn't help but raise my eyebrows at him. _Sure _he wouldn't. "Okay, maybe I would, but not with you. I mean, this is gonna sound so mushy but...I would never hurt you like that,"

Oh.

"Y'know, you're right, that did sound mushy," Oh my God, why did I say that? Here he was, Paul, trying to be sweet which totally wasn't him, and yet I had to go ruin it. Great.

"Exactly, Cora. I'm not mushy with just any random chick, y'know...but I mean it, I wouldn't hurt your feelings like that...I want to protect you. I know I probably seem like a right dick at times but I'm not _that_ bad, y'know,"

"Why do you want to protect me?"

Paul sighed, "I can't tell you yet..."

"Well...when can you tell me?" I asked, staring at him. Paul merely shrugged. He looked rather stressed. "Oh...okay...I'll take that as a never," I stated, smiling awkwardly. I didn't want to push things right now. Not with how fragile the situation seemed to be.

"Oh my God, Cora," Paul paused before turning to face me, "You're an idiot," And with that, a broad grin unexpectedly made its way onto his face. Perhaps it wasn't the sweetest thing to say after a confession, but to be honest, it worked for me. Besides, he did have a point. I _was _an idiot. And I probably will always be one.

"I know...and I'm sorry," I sighed, before glancing up at Paul, who was still grinning. "What are you smiling at _now?_" Paul shrugged in response.

"Nothing, it's just...that's probably the funniest confession I've ever seen...I mean, I think everyone in La Push knows you like me...but who can blame you?" Paul asked, smirking cockily as he ran a hand through his wet hair. _Was he laughing at my confession!? _What happened to the sweet and mushy Paul? Where had he gone?

"Well, excuse _me! _I've just spent almost an hour sprinting round in the rain, looking for you! I almost _died! _What if I'd fallen over and broken my neck or something!?"

"It wouldn't surprise me if that happened,"

I paused and glared at him. How could he mock me at a time like this!? "Y'know what if you're not careful I'll take my confession back," I warned, finally sitting up. I was sort of confused right now, I mean, what did this make Paul and I now? I mean, where we still just friends? I didn't know what was going on.

"Cora, just shut up," Paul stated suddenly, wrapping an arm around my shoulders lazily. Oh my God...this was so weird. To think that this boy actually liked me back. It was madness. "And next time you want to tell me something, maybe you should consider not screaming it out loud for the whole of La Push to hear. The guys are never going to let you live that down, y'know," Yep. I had sort of figured that out.

"Okay...but..." I paused, wondering what to say next. I wanted to ask Paul what was going to happen now? Were we going to start dating? Or were things just going to be awkward from now on? Would we just remain friends? "What's going to happen to us?" I asked eventually, feeling kind of stupid. Paul merely shrugged.

"Dunno, it's your choice," He stated, his arm around my shoulders pulling me closer to him as his grip tightened. "You probably want to take things slow, am I right?" I nodded, wondering on whether or not it would be acceptable for me to rest my head on his shoulder. I decided against it. "I think it's best if I take you home, though, you're freezing, and I need to go talk to Sam," Paul said, before getting to his feet. I still wasn't satisfied as to what Paul and I were now, but I supposed I was just going to have to wait and see what happened. Maybe we would end up dating? Maybe we wouldn't. Who knows?

* * *

It was getting late, and upon noticing that we had no more milk left, my mother had sent me back out again to get some things at the store for her. I didn't mind, though, it gave me time to think.

The walk home with Paul had been...quiet. He didn't hold my hand or anything, though I'd been hoping he would've. We just walked in complete silence, our arms sometimes brushing against one another. For me, it was awkward, but for him? Well, I don't know. It was unusual for him to be that quiet, and I didn't like it. I felt more confused than ever. We'd both confessed to each other, yet that was it. _That was it. _Do you see my problem? I'd never really been in this situation before, I had no idea what was supposed to happen, but the result I'd gotten from my confession wasn't really what I'd been hoping for.

I had _hoped _my confession would clear things up with Paul.

It hadn't. And now, I was more confused than I had originally been before. What was I supposed to do? Was this normal? Had I done something wrong? Maybe I shouldn't have screamed my confession at Paul like that? Maybe that had put him off? So many questions were currently cluttering up my brain, and I couldn't help but sigh in an exasperated manner. Just when I thought things would become clearer and more obvious, they didn't. Great.

I noted how empty La Push seemed as I made my way to the small store that sat right in the centre of the reservation. Though, to be honest, that didn't surprise me. It was pouring down with rain after all, and it was getting increasingly darker. However, as I continued on my little journey to the store, I noticed someone watching me.

They were basically standing at the edge of the road, in plain view, which confused me a bit. And as I noticed them staring at me, my pace faltered. Who were they? And why were they watching me so intently? Due to the rain, I couldn't quite see their face, but maybe if I went a little closer...

Jesus Christ! It was _Gemma!_

She wasn't dead! She did, however, look a little different. She was taller, and her figure...she wasn't skinny or little anymore. She was _ripped! _She was powerfully-built! She was...okay, you get the point...but bloody hell. And her hair...it wasn't all long and pretty anymore, it looked like it'd had been roughly cut (though that might have just been the rain) and fell to her chin. What the hell had happened? She was meant to be sick! How did she have the time to go all muscular and buff when she was sick!? I just didn't get it. Still, there was no point in just standing there staring at her, she was my friend after all, or at least, she _was. _I had to say something, right?

"Um...Gemma...hey..." I smiled awkwardly, before walking over to her. She didn't reply. Maybe she was angry at me or something? Maybe Allie had turned her against me or whatever? Meh "You...er...you look different. Have you been working out or...something?" I laughed nervously as she merely continued to stare at me. However, upon stepping closer, I noticed the sad look in her eyes. Something wasn't right.

"Gemma? You okay? Helloooo?" I waved a hand in front of her face in an attempt to get her talking. It didn't work. Instead, she smiled at me. Only it wasn't a proper smile. It was a cheerless smile. She didn't look happy. Why? Maybe her breakup with Logan was affecting her? I was about to ask her, only I found that I couldn't. Why?

Because she'd ran off.

Yep. Just as I'd opened my mouth to say something else, she'd flashed me a sad look, before turning round, and sprinting off down the road.

What?

"Oi! Gemma!?" I called, not bothering to chase after her. There was no point in trying to catch up, she'd sprinted off at an amazingly fast pace. She was like the female version of Usain Bolt. It was crazy. Everything was crazy.

Why had she run off? Better yet, how had she become so buff? People didn't usually become that built in a mere matter of weeks, right? What the hell was going on?

* * *

**(A/N) I feel like I've failed you guys with this chapter D; It was kind of difficult to write, and I'm honestly really, really sorry if it was a bit of a disappointment ..like I said I'll look over it in a few days and see if I still hate it or not. Have a nice day 3**


	16. Actually Maybe She Is

**(A/N) I'm finally back with another chapter! I had to upload this later than I thought 'cos I ended up moving house _again! _I've literally moved house 3 times in a month, it's ridiculous :P Plus today was my first day of college and it was brilliant! I'm so excited :P We have these cool kind of key card thingies and...IDK...they just make me feel cool :P**

**Anyhoo, thank you to everyone who has reviewed so far! Thank you for all the favourites and alerts despite me not updating this story in a while! I swear I'll try harder to update! And also, I'm so sorry for taking so long, so please don't hate me ^_^;**

**Please enjoy, please review, and if there are any mistakes, please let me know! ;)**

* * *

Chapter 16 – Actually, Maybe She Is

* * *

Now, although you would have thought that since the confession, which had only taken place yesterday, things might have been a little less awkward between Paul and I. Well, let me tell you a little something.

If you had thought that, you'd be _wrong._

Oh, yes.

As I walked into the school parking lot, bracing myself for yet _another _boring day of school, my eyes suddenly landed on the boy whom I'd screamed my feelings to just last night.

Paul.

And _that _was when the butterflies in my stomach started fluttering about like idiots. My brain suddenly became confused, and my mind cluttered. It seemed Paul had spotted me too. And unfortunately, he was standing with his friends whom had been present at the time of my God-awful confession. They had spotted me too. And they were laughing. The bloody gits.

Still, I didn't mind if they were laughing at me, as everyone did. I suppose it was just natural. Besides I was far too preoccupied with something that was much more important, and that was, trying to figure out what the hell I was supposed to do. Yesterday, Paul and I had both agreed we liked each other, but that was it. And now...well, I had no idea what to do or say around him. Should I just walk up to him and start talking to him normally? Or at least as normally as I could, which usually wasn't very normal at all. Or was I to act all cool and icy and just saunter past him all gangster-like? Though, to be honest, that would fail too. I'd probably end up falling flat on my face.

...Maybe it would be best if I tried to avoid him? Yes. That would do.

With a quick glance at Paul, I started to hurry towards the school entrance, keeping my head down low. I could almost feel his eyes burning holes into my skin, but for some stupid reason, I was feeling extremely shy. Why, though? We'd both agreed upon liking each other. Surely the awkwardness should have gone by now? Was Paul feeling this way too? Did he feel the awkwardness which seemed to radiate from the both of us?

The answer to those two questions...is no.

Paul did not feel awkward at all, and judging by the way he almost sprinted after me and heavily swung his arm around my shoulders, clearly he didn't realise that I actually _did _feel rather uncomfortable.

"Sick of me already?" He asked, though clearly he wasn't being serious. He had a large grin on his face. Well, at least he seemed pleased to see me. Or maybe I was looking particularly funny at that moment, who knows.

"Um...no...not really..." It was the best I could give for a reply. I was feeling confused, awkward and now slightly hungry. Besides, I'd spotted a rather agitated Logan now marching towards us. Clearly something was wrong.

"Right, well, I suppose we need to talk or something, right?" Paul started, his arm sliding down from my shoulder. Suddenly his large, warm hand was clutching mine, and I almost had to refrain myself from swooning. God. He'd turned me into a right mess. But yes, he was right. We did need to talk. "We probably should've spoken about it yesterday, but I was in shock from your confession. Seriously, I've had loads of chicks confess to me but never have they screamed their love for me," He smirked cockily, puffing his chest out. Clearly my confession had done nothing to deflate his overly large ego, but never mind.

"What you on about? I didn't screa- well, I did..." I paused, biting my lip. I needed to think of a witty comeback. Unfortunately, though, I didn't have one. Instead, I turned all defensive. "And besides, I never said I _loved _you, I only said liked," Logan was now standing right in front of us, and by the looks of it, he wanted Paul gone. He was staring at him rather pointedly, so whatever Logan needed to tell me was clearly top secret.

"Right...um...Paul, I think it's best if you-"

"Fuck off?" Paul finished, his smirk fading just a little. Well, to be honest, I wouldn't have really said it so crudely. I probably would have told him to go away a little more politely, but to be honest, Paul wasn't really polite. At all. "Yeah, yeah, but don't think I'm finished with you yet," Paul said, pointing a finger in my face, "I'll sit with you at lunch or something. We can talk then...hopefully make you less confused for once," God...talking...one of the things that I hated. I was awful at talking. Everyone knew that. Wait...less confused for once...?

"Are you calling me stupid?" I demanded, my eyes narrowing dangerously. Yes, I might have been a bit slow, and maybe I hadn't realised the moon wasn't made of cheese until very recently, but I wasn't _stupid. _

...Okay, maybe I was. And clearly, Paul agreed.

"Yup. Anyways, I'll see you later," He said, before throwing me a wink and giving my hair a quick ruffle, making it stick up in all different directions. I must have looked a bit like a hedgehog to be honest, but I didn't care, my attention was now solely focused on Logan...and maybe part of me was watching Paul walk away. He had a nice a- okay, stop being a pervert and listen to Logan!

"So, what's wrong?" I asked, after managing to drag my eyes away from Paul and his lovely booty. "Something is wrong, right? It must be...you look kinda constipated," Okay, maybe not the most sympathetic thing to say to someone who looked like they were having a panic attack, but still, I had a point.

Clearly, Logan didn't appreciate my point, "If you're asking if I'm constipated, the answer's no, but something bad has happened," I gulped. This couldn't be good.

"What? What's going on?"

"It's Gemma," Logan stated, his voice getting slightly higher. Clearly he was in a panic about whatever had happened. He was starting to spread a feeling of dread through my body, or maybe I was just incredibly hungry. "She's hurt! She's in the hospital right now!" Nope, it was definitely a feeling of dread.

"Why? How'd you know? Who told you? What's going on? Is she dying?" These were just a few of the questions that sprang to mind. Logan, though, didn't seem to have the patience to answer my questions, as he grabbed my wrist in a death-grip, and began to drag me off. Or he was trying to anyways. He ended up dragging me to the floor instead, which only meant one thing for me. A mouthful of muddy rain water. Great.

"Logan!"

"Oh, get up you lazy old fart!"

I regret to inform you, he'd learnt that insult from me. And now he was using it against me whilst basically dragging my body through heaps and heaps of muddy puddles of rain. Well, I suppose it could be counted as a shower. Only I ended up being covered in mud. And the puddles didn't make me smell too great either, as I was being aggressively dragged across the school parking lot. No one seemed to notice this happening, though. The other students didn't even spare me a glance, as though seeing someone get dragged along the ground was normal.

"Come on, Cora! Get up! I haven't got time for this! Gemma could be dying right now! Come on!" Logan didn't seem to be getting any calmer. If anything he was more agitated than before. Clearly dragging a poor girl through the mud was not a good stress reliever for him. Nor for me either. It was rather painful, actually.

"Well if you stopped dragging me across the ground maybe I would get up, you bloody plonka!" I snapped, trying my hardest to get back on my feet. Thankfully, though, Logan seemed to have gained just a little bit of his sanity back, and he quickly pulled me up. I looked down at myself, my nose wrinkling in disgust. My white t-shirt was now a light brown, and was very soggy indeed, and my jeans? Well, they were all muddy too, only the mud on the back of my jeans must have looked a lot more suspicious than the mud on my top. Great. Now people would think that I couldn't even use the toilet properly. Would I even be _allowed_ in the hospital looking like this?

* * *

The answer is yes.

Yes they did allow me in the hospital. Though not without a few funny looks, but I didn't blame them, really. I did look a bit odd covered in mud with my clothes still rather damp.

"So, how exactly did you find out she was here?" I asked Logan, as we rushed through the different corridors, trying to find the room she was staying in. Maybe it would have been wise to have actually listened to that nurse when she gave us the directions to Gemma's room.

"Her mom rang me, she said something about her being attacked or something. Apparently she was in pretty bad shape," Logan explained, his voice cracking a few times, as though he were about to cry at any moment. No wonder, really, it hadn't been too long ago that he and Gemma had broken up.

"What happened?" I asked, feeling more and more anxious by the minute. The feeling of dread still lay in the pit of my stomach. I felt scared. What if Gemma really _was_ dying?

"I don't know, her mom wouldn't sa- Here's her room!" Logan exclaimed, standing outside in the corridor, just staring at the door. People were constantly brushing past us, but I didn't care. I too was staring intently at the door. What would be on the other side? What if it Gemma lay dead inside? What if inside was like the scene from a horror movie, with blood dripping everywhere? I couldn't handle that. Did I really want to go inside?

No, I didn't. I was scared, but so was Logan, yet he too knew he would need to go in there. Gemma clearly meant a lot to him. And she had been my friend, sort of. "Come on," I placed a hand on Logan's shoulder, feeling oddly calm.

And so, in we went, slowly, bracing ourselves for some sort of horrifying sight. Only it wasn't horrifying.

The room was empty.

Apart from the one nurse who looked as though she were about to cry. She was currently staring at the bed that lay in the middle of the room with monitors beside it. The bed sheets were stained with blood, though not enough to scare me for life, and travelling from the bed to the smashed window was a trail of blood. Glass shards littered the floor, and the breeze blowing in from outside caused a shiver to run down my spine. It might not have been the traumatising sight I'd been bracing myself for, but it was still creepy. Logan was the first to speak.

"Where's Gemma? She was meant to be here! Where is she? Why's that window smashed? What's going on?" He demanded, all at once. He spoke even faster than I usually did, and that's saying something.

The nurse seemed shaken, "I don't know! There was a smash and then we all came running and she was gone. Someone must have come for her! The police say the window was smashed from the outside! She-"

"The police!?" Logan demanded, his eyes widening dramatically. The nurse nodded. She was clearly terrified.

"Yes! She's been taken, can't you see?" I refrained myself from making a reference joke about the film Taken, and instead kept quiet. Now wasn't the time for jokes. Especially not my God-awful ones. "They're out searching for her now, with her mother! She needs to be found, she was bleeding badly, whatever attacked her did some serious damage. Oh, if only Doctor Cullen was here, he'd know what to do," And then, the nurse _swooned_. Yes, she actually swooned. Despite being incredibly shaken up, and despite the grim circumstances, she actually _swooned._

"Wait..." I blinked slowly, trying to grasp the situation, "So someone's kind of...kidnapped her? Or abducted her, or...?" The nurse rolled her eyes impatiently.

"Yes! Of course! You stupid girl!"

"Well, that was sort of uncalled f-"

"Shh! Now out! The both of you! I want you out! I'm pretty sure this is meant to be a crime scene! Go on! Out!" The nurse suddenly exclaimed, ushering the both of us out with a deep frown on her face. Logan seemed to be in shock as we hurried out.

"Someone's got Gemma..." Logan bit his lip, "I just don't get it...what...?" I shrugged, feeling rather weary and equally confused. I was tired of all the weird stuff going on in La Push. Everyone and everything seemed weird. I felt as though I were in some sort of drama, like that British show, Eastenders or Coronation Street. I'd never been involved in something as serious as this in my whole life. Never.

"Logan...perhaps we should head back to school or something," I suggested, sighing in a defeated manner. Clearly whatever had happened was out of our league. There was no way we could help with this. Gemma had gone missing. She was hurt. Everyone in La Push was weird, and I had an itch on my back that I couldn't reach. Perhaps it would be best if we just stayed out of things. Logan didn't seem to agree though.

"No, I think I'm gonna stay here, I need to know..." He trailed off, looking wistfully at the closed door in front of us, as though hoping to go back in and demand answers from the nurse. He wouldn't get any, though, I knew he wouldn't. Unless Gemma was found, of course, but for some reason that seemed highly unlikely. And I don't know why.

* * *

It was almost the end of lunch by the time I arrived back at school. Despite my constant protesting, Logan had decided to stay at the hospital. He'd been distraught when I'd left him, but he'd reassured me he'd be fine. I could only hope, though, I couldn't dwell on the thought of Logan for long. A very happy Amber was suddenly standing in front of me with a large grin on her face.

"Hey, Cora! So, how'd your confession to Paul go? Did you guys kiss? Or did you chicken out and not confess?" She seemed very perky today, for some reason. It annoyed me to no end. I would have loved to have been happy right now, like I had been this morning, only the news of Gemma had seemed to create a permanent rain cloud to hang over me. I felt miserable.

So, instead of answering blondie, I merely shrugged, whilst letting out a quiet grunt, "It went okay, I suppose,"

"Ooh, so you're a couple now, yeah?" Amber asked, her smile growing wider. God, I was starting to suspect she'd taken a load of happy pills or something. Or maybe she was stoned. Or drunk. Whatever it was, her bubbly mood did not die down. "That's great! But did you guys have an argument? I saw him at lunch looking annoyed...he was sitting by himself. Well, let me tell you Cora, do _not _worry, he'll come running back within a day! They always do, I'm telling you!" Amber nudged me in the ribs, throwing in a quick wink. God, I don't think I'd ever seen someone be so excited for someone else's relationship. It was weird. Kind of like having my very own fangirl.

"Ooh, speaking of which, there's Paul now! Told you he'd come running back!" I turned quickly, only to see an annoyed looking Paul storming down the hall towards me. It seemed as though everyone was in a grim mood today...other than Amber of course. She seemed insanely happy, the lucky bugger. "I'll just leave you two to...uh..._chat_..." And with that, she was off again, almost as quickly as she'd arrived. It made me wonder where she got the energy.

"You!" Paul exclaimed loudly, as he stopped right in front of me. He looked absolutely furious, but why? I hadn't done anything wrong, right? "Where _have _you _been, _Cora!? Huh!?" Yup. All that was said with a shower of spit landing on my face. Ew.

"Look, it's a long story," I said wearily, hoping that I wasn't going to have to explain the whole situation to Paul. However, judging by his crossed arms and the accusing look in his eyes, clearly I was going to have to explain everything. Briefly, of course.

"Fine," I took a deep breath, before beginning to explain everything at top speed, "Okay, so Logan got a call saying Gemma was in hospital and he felt worried so we went there, then when we got there she was gone and the nurse was all crazy and said she'd been taken or something, kinda like that film, Taken, in fact...anyways, there was blood everywhere and apparently she was in bad shape and now the police are searching for her and as usual everything's confusing," I finished with a deep breath, now feeling even more worn out than before. Paul looked rather weary too. In fact, he looked rather worried as well.

"Cora," He began, sounding pretty impatient, "I've warned you before, it's not safe to wonder around alone with those two running about!"

"I wasn't _alone!_ Logan was with me! And who's running about? You don't mean the people who took Gemma, right? D'you know who took her?"

Paul rolled his eyes in an annoyed manner, "No, I don't know who took her," It was obvious he was lying, "And I can't tell you who's running about, not yet! Just don't go out on your own, right? It's not safe...you're never safe, you're stupid, you're nearly always hurting yourself or something,"

"I'm not stupid!"

Paul raised his eyebrows, clearly mocking me. "Really, Cora? _Really?"_

"Oh just shut up! Seriously! _When _are you going to tell me who's running about!? I bet you're just saying that to annoy me! Yeah, someone may have kidnapped Gemma but they won't come after me! And even if they did they'd give me back 'cos I'd probably just annoy them!"

Paul's eyes glinted in a dark manner, and he suddenly had a grim expression on his face, "Trust me, they wouldn't give you back. Gemma's perfectly fine, it's _you _you should be worried about," And with that, he'd turned round and was starting to stalk off, leaving me feeling rather scared. What did he mean by that? Did he known who'd taken Gemma? Were they after me now? Did he know what was going on?

"Paul?" I called after him, the hairs on the back of my neck starting to prickle, "Paul? What do you mean? What's going on?"

He didn't bother turning round, "Just don't go outside on your own, whatever you do!" He called back, before disappearing round a corner.

Well, he clearly knew something, but what? Was I ever going to find out? Did I even really want to find out? The answer, was no. The whole situation just seemed far too sinister for me. I was almost peeing myself with fear.


End file.
